Without Magic

by Tye Tivillus

  Chapter 11: Libraries and Mysteries

  The next morning Bo woke early again. Reluctantly he slipped from the warmth of the bed, padding over to peer at Erasmus, who had fallen asleep in the chair. He looked much like he had the first time Bo had seen him, and the teen wondered how long Erasmus had stayed up studying. There was a large pile of notes next to him. Bo took some time to do a few easy stretches, finding that his back wasn't nearly as bad as it had been, but that it did seem slightly stiff.

  Soon enough Hayes and Arty called in with breakfast again. It was much the same as the day before. He claimed that his back was doing much better, and after having this confirmed by Hayes, he was allowed to join in for all of the exercises that morning. When they were finished Bo found that he was sweating, despite the cool of the morning. Erasmus was sitting in the arm chair watching proceedings somewhat sleepily. He yawned, unfolding from his sitting position carefully, to avoid upsetting his work, and joined the group as Will came in with the official breakfast. Arty and Hayes forced Erasmus to eat all of his share, keeping a close eye on him in case he tried any funny business. Despite this he managed to sneak several bits and pieces to Bo who ate them indiscreetly, blowing the mage's cover and getting him into trouble with the women.

  'I was thinking we should teach Bo to draw.' Erasmus said, between mouthfuls. 'It would be interesting to know what he sees- whether his immunity to magic makes a difference to colours, or to other things we take for granted.' There was much conversation on the topic of what Bo might be able to see or not see, including discussion of ancient magical facades that remained from times long gone, ones that covered castles and rock formations to makes them beautiful to the eyes. Occasionally a castle would crumble away leaving only the ghostly facade behind (Erasmus explained this, typically going off topic to speak of interesting things).

  'I hear The King has gone out on a hunt again.' Arty mentioned casually, interrupting Erasmus mid-sentence. Erasmus swore and pounded the table heavily with a fist.

  'Will we never be allowed to go? Can't we claim the talks were a failure and leave? They will fail anyway if this keeps up, we'll just be saving ourselves months and months wasted in this castle,' the lanky mage complained. Hayes patted Erasmus' shoulder sympathetically, clearly aware that the man was keen to get home to his books.

  'I don't mind if you stay a while' muttered Bo, fiddling with the tablecloth. Hearing Erasmus' enthusiasm to leave had hurt more than the teen had expected it to, after all they had only known each other for a day, at the best. He felt that if Erasmus, Arty and Hayes were to leave, then he would be left with only Will for company, as a slave for the rest of his life. 'I'd miss you if you went,' Bo added, still determinedly looking at the lacy edge of the tablecloth.

  'Well you could come with us Bo! I was thinking about it last night – there really is no way they could stop you. Your collar will never work as a tool of punishment, so we should be able to remove it, and then they wouldn't be able to track you down.' Bo froze, realising that what Erasmus said was true. He wouldn't have to be a slave all his life, he would be able to escape – and as Will had said, they didn't have slaves in the desert, so no one would be able to tell what the tattoo on his hand meant. The boy was staggered by the sheer audacity of the thought of running away. It was simple, and yet he had never considered it.

  Bo looked up to see all three of the mages were looking closely at him. Arty was neutral, Erasmus seemed excited and enthusiastic, and Hayes seemed nervous, but all three of them were looking at him like he had a choice in it.

  'I would like to,' he whispered, almost to himself, hardly daring to allow the hope to grow. Now that he knew the collar could come off, he was once again aware of how uncomfortable it was. More than ever he wanted to be rid of it. Erasmus broke out into a lunatic grin. He picked Bo up bodily and gave him a bear hug that had the teen shouting to be let down. Although Erasmus did so quickly enough Bo could still feel where the older man's arms had been around him. He tried to hide his rising blush but there was no way to do so subtly. He reassured himself it was to do with excitement at the prospect of freedom and adventure. Luckily Arty and Hayes were the only ones who noticed, as Erasmus was busy telling Bo about all the things they could see and do in the desert, but they were mercifully silent about it. Soon conversation changed to the slaves that had been kidnapped in the night.

  'Hayes and I had a bit of a look around - we searched the area where you lost those people Bo. We didn't see any large groups of slaves. Nor do we know of any area large enough to keep the slaves without notice, at least not humanely. ' They shared a look with Erasmus as if to say that they were sure humanity didn't come into the equation. 'We'll be on the lookout but we seem to have reached a dead end.'

  'Maybe if there are still slaves being taken, we could wait for the people again tonight and follow them?' suggested Bo.

  'They sound dangerous. Maybe you should leave Hayes and me to the following. We'll tell you what we learn tomorrow.' With quick goodbyes the two women left. Erasmus offered to change Bo's bandages.

  'I think you could start wearing a shirt again – so we could go out and about today if you like?' Erasmus said after seeing the teen's back. Bo was pleased at the idea of not being shut into a room all day again although he worried about what might happen if he was recognised. He shivered, distracted from his thoughts, as Erasmus ran his fingers over the nearly healed wounds. The mage made a questioning sound.

  'You have cold fingers,' explained Bo. Erasmus' fingers felt like they were made out of ice. Erasmus mumbled something. Bo was just about to ask him to repeat himself when the teen realised it had been a spell – Erasmus' fingers were now warm.

  'I warmed my hands up.' explained Erasmus unnecessarily, 'even though I used magic, I used it on myself – the heat is real, not magical, so you should be able to feel it?' Bo sighed – Erasmus was already starting to ask questions about magic again. It seemed that even though they were going to go out, it would be impossible to distract the mage. When the bandages were changed, Erasmus handed Bo's shirt back, explaining that he'd cleaned it via magic. It felt softer and much less scratchy – it also seemed to be a shade brighter than Bo thought he'd ever seen a slave's shirt – as though it was freshly made, rather than several years old and well used. The patches and mends in it had also disappeared, leaving seamless cloth in its wake. Bo frowned at Erasmus who looked very smug. 'It's better now isn't it?' he asked, obviously very sure about his handiwork. 'If you take your pants off I could do the same for them. They look like they could use a wash.'

  'I think I'll keep those on, thanks all the same,' said Bo hurriedly, pulling the shirt on without the need for assistance.

  'Then perhaps we could stop by the wash house and get you cleaned up- and given clean clothes. No offence but you smell like the slave compound and I've had enough of it.' Bo grumbled but the wash house was the first place they visited.

  The wash houses were very close to the laundry – they shared the same set of fire warmed water. This was Bo's first time to visit one, and he was almost overwhelmed by the number of people, and the gushing steam. In The Gutter there had been no bath houses, nor indeed the idea that regular washing was particularly good for you – some thought it made you weak, or washed away any protections or luck that you had managed to accumulate. If a person got particularly bad muck on them, they'd wash it out in the fountains – where mothers washed their children, should they need a clean. Certainly no one showed off their naked bodies in The Gutter – unless they had no clothes, or were mad, of course. It was just an invitation to be taken advantage of – after all, there weren't many places on a naked body that could be concealing weapons. In the bath house, however, everyone wore little more than a towel around their waist, and when they entered the waters they didn't even wear that. Bo wasn't overly worried, especially seeing that everyone else acted as though it was perfectly normal, but it was entirely unexpected. He had never thought that important nobles wo
uld strip down and sit around with each other in a bath. Even when he thought it in his head it sounded silly. Weren't they afraid of assassins? The more he looked, however, the more he realised that it was only young nobles, and those who were fighters, rather than courtiers. The teen supposed the more dignified or important nobles must have their own baths – it made much more sense to him that way. Erasmus was quick to disrobe, easily coiling a towel around his waist before handing his clothes to a slave boy.

  'Arty did say I should come and take a look at the bath house. I can't really see why, it looks like a regular bath house to me.' The mage frowned, adding 'I prefer bathing in private.' Bo didn't comment, instead he got changed, wrapping a towel firmly around his waist. Having a collar on earned him a few strange looks, as slaves weren't common in the bath houses, and the marks on his back earned him even more attention, but everything went smoothly enough. He and Erasmus spent some time soaking in the hot water until Bo felt like his limbs had turned to jelly, and the skin on his fingers was all wrinkly. He also spent some time scrubbing himself with soap and a stiff sponge-like thing called a luffa. The soap was satisfyingly sudsy, creating lots and lots of bubbles and making Bo feel very clean indeed. He didn't talk much, instead listening to the talk that went on around him about fights, and love interests, and all sorts of gossip from around the castle. It was almost like listening to the stories his old mage friend used to tell him, only with fewer monsters. Eventually he got into a water fight with Erasmus that disturbed a few other people. Some laughed and joined in while others gave disproving looks. Erasmus cheated horribly, using magic to create small spheres of water (which he called 'water bombs') that he hurled at Bo and whoever else had joined in, and they would dive out of the way, returning fire as best they could. Eventually though things quietened down when the fighters had to leave to get ready for afternoon classes, and suddenly the disapproving glares far outnumbered those who were happy to muck around with the slave and the foreigner.

  After a nice long soak, the teen felt surprisingly relaxed. His back felt less stiff, and he had nice clean clothes to wear. Erasmus had been thoughtful enough to bring a tub of the gel, and after the bath he reapplied it. Bo had been oblivious to his own stink before, but now that he was clean he could smell the subtle odour of spice coming from the gel, that was both pleasant and unusually mouth watering – so much so that he wondered what the gel would taste like if he were to eat it.

  'Tomorrow you won't need the gel, or the bandages any more,' Erasmus commented, ruffling Bo's short fuzzy hair. 'I don't know how you could stand to wait so long for something to heal, it'd be so inconvenient! Not to mention scars. There won't be any magicking those away.' Bo scowled at the mage, who seemed intent on putting his foot in his mouth, and continued talking about the things Bo wouldn't be able to do that were everyday conveniences for 'most people'.

  'Are there more bath houses in the desert?' asked Bo thoughtfully. His mind had turned to what he would be able to do when he had run away. He had enjoyed the bath house, and hoped he could attend more of them in the future, preferably with Erasmus and more water fights. Erasmus smiled, diverted from his contemplation of life without magic by the opportunity to explain the delights and attractions of his home town. The small teen couldn't help but to be excited. He felt like he was going to embark on a grand adventure, of the sort that had been discussed at length with his old mage friend. He asked Erasmus if there would be monsters to slay and maybe damsels in distress to save. Erasmus seemed less sure on those points than he had on the possibility of there being baths in the future, but he did say that anything was possible.

  Walking the corridors, they decided to visit the library. Erasmus was very keen to see what books there were on magic, as his own study material was running low. He explained that because of the friction between this kingdom and the desert kingdom there was no free sharing of knowledge, so to be allowed access to the library was a big thing in his eyes, and he wanted to read as much as he could before he went home again.

  The doors of the library were thick and heavy, and they looked like they would be able to hold off an army for a week, given half the chance. It was almost as if the librarians expected to be laid siege to. The large heavy doors were held open, and on either side of them there was a guard stationed, presumably to make sure no one tried to steal any of the books. Inside was even more impressive than the doors would suggest. The floor was coated in a thick plush, wall to wall carpet that absorbed noise like a sponge absorbs water. It was the first time Bo had seen such extravagance, and that was just the carpet. The walls reached higher than the tallest trees, and had book shelves carved into them. The books covered the walls, all the way up to the ceiling, and there were brass sliding ladders that people were using to get to the upper shelves. The middle of the room was riddled with more shelves, all made from a rich hard wood, that loomed, acting like walls of a great maze. Bo thought it would be easy to become lost in their depths. The atmosphere of the library was one of silent contemplation. Everyone moved at a slow walk, and with the weight of ancient knowledge pressing down it felt to Bo almost as though he was deep underwater. On occasion the teen found himself holding his breath, and had to remind himself to let air in and out of his lungs. The air in question was thick with the scent of wood polish, dust, and ink. It was one that would be instantly recognisable to anyone who had smelled it even once.

  The short teen stood in the doorway gawking at the foreign landscape of the library. It seemed so cool and dry, and everyone was too busy minding their own business to give him strange looks. Erasmus smiled, tugging his charge into the cavernous room. They walked down the aisles of books, and although they were moving at a moderate pace, the outrageous size of the library made it seem as though they were crawling along as slow as ants. Erasmus pointed out this tome or that slim paperback as they went, giving a running commentary on what he could see. Occasionally they would come across someone who was sitting on the comfortable carpet, too absorbed in their reading to find a place at one of the research tables. Once there was a rattle, and Erasmus and Bo had been forced to leap aside as one of the brass ladders whizzed by. It was fitted to a track that ran along the bookshelves, and appeared to be moving of its own accord. Finally they reached a central area. It was lit warmly by a star-scape of magical glowing spheres – an oasis of research tables in a sea of bookshelves, filled with people making notes. To one side there was a small group of five people being led by a librarian. The librarian was explaining the ladder system, but they were all talking in hushed voices and all that Bo could catch was an indistinct murmur.

  The small teen was extremely impressed by everything he saw, but Erasmus looked as though he was finally somewhere that he felt at home. His strides had become more confident, and his posture had eased – it was clear that he drew comfort from the multitude of books and the atmosphere around him.

  'Can I help you?' queried a small man. There was nothing especially impressive about him, but he radiated a quiet satisfaction and an honest enthusiasm for assisting people. He smiled gently as Erasmus asked where the books on the history of magic were. The man took some time to explain that books on the history of magic were in the magic section, in the subsection of history. Erasmus commented that this seemed an odd way to organise things, explaining that in his favourite library in his home town the history of magic was organised into the history section, in the subsection of magic. The small librarian quickly realised that Erasmus was from the desert, and the two broke into an excited conversation comparing the library cataloguing system there with this particular library. It was a little bit too boring for Bo to take in any of the details. Eventually the small man showed them the ladder system – a state of the art magic, he said, showing Erasmus with a hint of smugness, knowing that this library was the first and only library to have it so far. He explained that if a patron wished to search the library for a book, they need only ask the ladder with either the author name or book title, a
nd the ladder would take them to the appropriate section. If a book was being used, or was no longer a part of the library it would direct them to seek assistance with a librarian or suggest something with similar content. Much to the librarian's pleasure, Erasmus was suitably impressed. Assured that the newest guests were able to see themselves around, the librarian left to speak quietly to another group of patrons.

  Erasmus grinned at Bo and the two walked over to the ladders at a controlled pace. They could both easily fit on the one ladder, as the ladder was very tall. Erasmus climbed onto it first, and Bo stood on the bottom rung, holding firmly to the sides.

  'I'm looking for Adamson, Hector' announced Erasmus, he turned to Bo, about to explain that Hector Adamson was a famous historian for magic, and that if they had anyone's works they should have his. Unfortunately the ladder took off with a jolt that Erasmus hadn't been expecting, and the mage was nearly shaken from his perch. With a surprised yelp he shut his mouth and concentrated on staying on the ladder. The ladder quickly piled on the speed, and Bo wasn't certain that he liked how difficult it was to hang on. After the initial surprise, however, Erasmus didn't look at all ruffled – it was almost like he was standing on an immobile platform. 'I like the relative speed dampening,' he said calmly, his voice carrying as though there wasn't wind whipping past. Looking down at Bo, Erasmus could see that the boy was clinging to the ladder for dear life. 'Oh yeah, right, magic and all that...'

  The ladder clattered speedily along the tracks, gears turning busily at the bottom and at the top. Books whizzed by so fast that it was impossible to pick out a single title in the blur. With the cool dry air rushing past, and the dimness of the library it was almost like flying through twisting caverns. At one point the ladder flew off one bookshelf, slid across a groove in the floor, and reattached to another shelf without loosing any speed. Bo was starting to wonder if the ladder would ever stop when there was a thump. The dark skinned teen peered up past Erasmus to see someone had boarded their ladder while it was still moving.

  'What the devil!' exclaimed Erasmus, taken by surprise. It was a young person of indeterminate gender. The youth smiled cockily, showing off a number of missing teeth. They had short, wild red hair, and tanned skin. Without a word the youth flung themselves at the opposing shelves. Bo spun to watch over his shoulder – just before the person hit the wall of books, another ladder came racing toward them, this one was empty. They landed on it and where whipped away in the opposite direction to Bo and Erasmus.

  As the contraption neared the desired destination, it slowed, coming to a gradual stop. Bo sighed, and stepped shakily to the ground. He thought that any longer and he would have surely fallen off the ladder.

  'Who on earth do you think that was? You know, the person who jumped onto our ladder?' Erasmus shrugged. It had been unusual but he was easily distracted by the books he could see. He quickly ascended the ladder to get something on one of the upper levels, leaving Bo sitting at the bottom wondering who the red haired youth had been.

  After Erasmus collected as many books as he could carry, he and Bo caught the ladder back to the centre of the stacks, where the desks were. Climbing down, Bo quickly recognised a brown haired researcher. Instead of papers on his desk, Ruben had covered the old worn wood with metal scraps. He was focused on constructing something small out of gold. Bo hurried over to his friend, leaving Erasmus to trail him in a puzzled way.

  'Ruben!' Bo whispered as loudly as he could, not wanting to break the reverent silence of the area. Ruben looked up with unfocused eyes, blinked twice, and then realised who was standing in front of him. A slow smile crept over the teen's face and he put down his work. Bo took a chair from nearby and sat at Ruben's desk.

  'Heyya Bo. I don't see you around much any more?' Ruben said, clearly somewhat bemused by the happy coincidence. Bo shook his head at Ruben's absent-mindedness.

  'Because we don't do training anymore, remember?' A look of realisation stamped itself on Ruben's long face.

  'Oh right, yeah, I remember now. Oh damn! I hope Alexander isn't angry that I missed training.' Bo swallowed his smile, wondering how to tell the placid Ruben what had happened. He suspected the other teen knew about Alexander being dead but had merely forgotten.

  'I don't think he minds, somehow. So! What are you making, is it still the bird?' Bo quickly changed the subject, pointing at Ruben's work – there was no reason to remind his friend about the unhappy truth. Ruben was easily distracted, blithely proclaiming that he had finished the bird yesterday (or perhaps the day before). He was now working on making an insect, where the challenge was to make something very small, but fully functioning. He explained that it would be mostly made out of gold, to help fit in more magic function. Erasmus drew close, clearly fascinated. He had a number of questions for Ruben that went right over Bo's head, and the dark skinned teen listened in, surprised as the somewhat dopey Ruben burst out into a speech about technical aspects of his work that Bo thought even Erasmus would have trouble understanding. 'You should show Erasmus the bird tomorrow!' exclaimed Bo happily. He liked the idea of talking to Ruben again, and he was keen to see the finished bird. Seeing two people who appreciated his work had Ruben blushing with pride and he readily agreed to come to Erasmus' room after breakfast tomorrow to show off his bird. Bo got Erasmus to write his room number for Ruben, as the teen was sure his friend would forget if he didn't have it with him. Erasmus eventually begged leave to get through his large pile of reading, and Bo chose to stay with Ruben, who was slowly and carefully compiling his insect.

  Ruben had a golden wire so fine it was like a thread, and was having trouble grasping it with his delicate pliers. 'Can I help?' Bo asked. Ruben shrugged and handed over the pliers. With a steady hand, Bo grabbed the wire on his first try, and Ruben directed him to carefully thread it through a complicated network of other similar wires. Happy with Bo's work Ruben simply continued to direct him in what to do, and in the couple of hours that they were in the library together, Bo managed to weave in eight gold wires, which Ruben said had to be some kind of record. By the end though Bo was starting to get as bad as Ruben with grasping the wires, and he suggested they both take a brief rest. Ruben looked like he had never even considered the idea before, and wasn't entirely pleased with it. Never the less, he sat back with a sigh, massaging his eyes. It was a strain, even when he wasn't the one doing the threading. 'Do you know of a red haired child that plays about on the ladders?' asked Bo curiously. Ruben gave him a blank look before shaking his head, and Bo sighed, it had been a long shot at best to think Ruben might have noticed something about the outside world.

  'Red haired?' came a feminine voice. Bo turned to see another librarian. Like the small man this woman had a studious air, but her hair was wild and pink, and her nose had a piercing. Her appearance, however, was the only loud thing about her. Bo nodded, straining to her her whispered words. 'There is a rumour that a small girl lives wild in the shelves. Some leave out food for her, and whether it's a very elaborate joke, or if there really is a child, the food is always gone an hour or two later. No one sees it go though.' Bo smiled and thanked the woman who nodded cheerily before moving on to do something else. Turning back to discuss the strange occurrence with Ruben he found the other boy was already deeply concentrated on his work again. Bo blinked, before deciding to check up on Erasmus, who had taken the nearest available desk.

  Erasmus looked up and smiled as Bo approached, putting down a slim book.

  'There was more information than I was expecting – I thought I would just try looking up immunity to magic.'

  'Did you find out anything new?' asked Bo, suddenly interested. Erasmus shook his head, saying that he'd learned more about the right places to look for information – an author he'd never read before.

  'Do you want to see if we can find the author?' Asked Erasmus cheerfully, clearly having no intention to leave the library in the near future. Looking back at Ruben, Bo quickly accepted the ladder ride. It would be mor
e interesting than sitting around next to Ruben or minding Erasmus' desk. The two started walking toward the ladders, when Bo gasped loudly, incurring the silent wrath of a nearby researcher.

  'That's Allie, the one who was stolen!' exclaimed Bo in a whisper, pointing at a girl. Her hair was much longer than it should have been, but Bo could not fail to recognise the features of her face, and the expression of irritation on her features. She wore no collar around her neck, strangely. Allie looked over and caught Bo pointing at her. Casually, she stepped onto a ladder, which was conveniently at hand, and almost immediately it took off. Erasmus and Bo raced to the ladders, not taking heed of the stir they were causing. Erasmus leapt onto the ladder and Bo grabbed onto the lower rungs. Quickly Erasmus used manual instructions to send their ladder hurtling after the girl in the hopes of catching up with her.

  Initially there was no sign of the girl but Bo soon saw a flicker of motion up ahead as she swung into a new aisle.

  'Right!' he shouted quickly, and Erasmus followed his lead, shouting for the ladder to go right. It spun away from the shelf, across a track in the ground, and onto a new set of shelves. The girl was ahead, now visible. 'If you draw close enough I could try grabbing her ladder and climbing across,' suggested Bo. Quickly the girl went into a number of twists and turns. It was difficult to keep up, and at one point Erasmus took a wrong turn, and they almost lost her. A few tense shelves later, however, they caught up again, hard on Allie's heels. The wind whistled past as the ladders zoomed along the shelves like demented bugs would zoom around a source of light. Eventually the girl seemed to grow tired of the game. Reaching out she trailed her fingers along the track, which melted at her touch.

  'Shi-' Erasmus managed before their high speed ladder chase came to an abrupt end. The ladder hit the section of malformed track and was flung violently from the side of the shelf, sending ladder and occupants of said ladder flying down the long corridor in an ungainly sprawl. Bo smacked hard into the opposite self, before tumbling to a painful stop. He breathed heavily for a moment or two as the pain of the crash set in. Picking himself up he scanned for Erasmus who was lying prone on the ground nearby. The lanky mage groaned before sitting himself up. Despite the relative speed dampening spell he'd landed awkwardly on his arm and it was clearly broken. Erasmus' face was white. Hurriedly, Bo grabbed the man under his arms, helping him sit properly. 'I think it's broken,' he mumbled, both trying to cradle the injured limb and not to let anything touch it. Bo worried Erasmus was going to throw up – he looked extremely dazed.

  'Do you have a spell to get rid of the pain?' frowned Bo anxiously. Erasmus simply groaned and tucked his head between his knees. Bo checked to see if anything else was injured, but apart from his arm Erasmus was well. After a few minutes Erasmus started to mumble to himself. It took him three tries to get the spell right, but when he did there was a crunch as his arm straightened out. The mage shouted in pain, but his arm had been fixed. Sweating, the lanky mage quickly became limp with relief.

  'Thought a spell for pain relief and a spell for fixing would be too difficult in a short span of time. Went with the most important,' grunted Erasmus by way of explanation. Then he did throw up. It took another ten minutes for someone to find them – it was the red haired youth on a ladder of their own. It was travelling unusually slowly. Finally it came to a stop by Erasmus and Bo. The mage was breathing easier and had devised a quick spell to get rid of the mess he'd made. All the time, though, he was muttering something about not being able to believe that the girl had done magic without any preparations, but Bo could not make the mage repeat himself, nor speak clearly on the subject.

  'Get him on the ladder' instructed the youth. She grabbed one arm while Bo grabbed another, and they piled Erasmus onto the bottom of the ladder. The mage held on, and together they took the ladder back to the desks. It moved very slowly, which Bo was pleased about. He didn't think he'd be able to stand on one of those fast moving ladders for some time without fear they would come off the track. He glanced curiously at the youth, and they locked gazes with him, grinning. 'You're tricky. Can't track you, only he's noisy enough,' the girl pointed at Erasmus. Bo frowned but said nothing. 'I will fix the tracks, as long as you tell no one anything more about me,' the youth raised a finger to her lips and 'shhh'd' at Bo to help make her point. Just before they got in sight of the desks, the red haired child jumped from the ladder, waving goodbye and jogged back in the direction they'd come from. Erasmus had been put out of his studying mood, and the duo quickly left the library after making a few last minute notes so that the mage could pick up where he left off.

  They walked back to Erasmus' room, not quickly but directly, and without taking time for detours and other distractions. The lanky mage seemed unusually quiet, walking without lecturing Bo on obscure points to do with magic, or history. The two quickly found themselves close to their destination. From somewhere up ahead came an urgent shout. Bo couldn't help the thrill of fear that shot through him, even though the cry could easily have been one of ecstatic joy. There was a clanking, and strangely enough, the sound of galloping hooves. Erasmus pulled Bo flat against the wall, and just in time. Skidding around the corner came a strange old man on what looked like a horse. A closer examination showed that it was an empty suit of armour designed to be worn by a horse, sometimes known as barding, rather than a living breathing animal. It had clearly been animated through magic, although not exceedingly well, as occasionally the parts readjusted themselves in odd, unnatural ways. The man was also dressed in a suit of armour, minus the helmet. The armour itself was abnormally shiny, catching any and every stray beam of light and sending it glittering around the room. More often than not a gleam would pierce the eyes of any onlooker, rendering them temporarily blinded.

  'Tally Ho!' shouted the man energetically, bringing his phantom steed to a halt. Without warning the body of the horse did a barrel roll, flipping the energetic oldster upside down. He fell out of his seat and onto his unprotected head. Having dumped its rider, the body of the horse rotated until it was the right way up again. With a shocked expression, Erasmus hurried to help the old man to his feet, but as he laid a hand on the man's shoulder he was flung away by a hurried gesture from the wild-eyed knight. 'Don't come near me fiend! I- wait. You're not a wild stag are you?' With large, pale blue eyes the man peered down his somewhat crooked, beaky nose. His hair was grey and his skin was pale, as though he spent little to no time out in the sunlight. 'Are you a washerwoman?' he asked curiously, closing one eye and glaring at Erasmus with the other as though trying to get the mage in focus.

  'Not exactly, but I have been known to do my own laundry,' said Erasmus. He was surprisingly calm. Bo on the other hand was shocked at finding such an odd character in the castle. He'd never heard anything about an eccentric old knight on what looked to be a ghostly steed. The teen was calmed, however, by the fact that Erasmus was not showing any signs of fear or trepidation.

  'Well that's okay then,' mumbled the old man. Erasmus tried once more to help him up, and the old man accepted the aid. 'Just because you helped me up washerwoman, does not mean that I shall marry you,' cautioned the man, 'but we can be on first name terms now. You must call me Lance, and I shall call you wench.' Erasmus frowned but Lance didn't seem to notice. Lance licked the tip of his fingers and smoothed down his bushy eyebrows, before fluffing out the messy mane of hair on his head. 'I must look my best at all times you know? Being the king's mage is an awful lot of work, and people expect a professional appearance.' Erasmus nodded non-committally, and Bo started to wonder when they would be free to leave the madman's presence. He rubbed tiredly at spots of light that were dancing across his eyes, due in part to the absurdly shiny armour worn by Lance and his steed. 'Well be off with you wench don't you have work to do!' Erasmus and Bo thankfully turned to leave, but as quick as a flash, the old knight and self proclaimed king's mage stood in front of them. 'Where do you think you're going? Guilty conscience eh? Well I have my eye on you!
I have my EEEIIIII!' the man shrieked as he tried to get back on his horse, only to have the armour part before him, leaving him once again dumped on the ground. Erasmus and Bo edged away, and once they had reached a safe distance increased their pace until they had put several corridors between themselves and Lance.

  'Phew, we were warned that the King's mage was a tad eccentric, but that was ridiculous! Wench indeed, humph!' grumbled Erasmus. Bo goggled in disbelief.

  'You mean that actually is the king's mage? But – shouldn't it be someone a little more, um...'

  'Sane? You would think so,' said Erasmus dryly. 'Never the less, Bo, that man has considerable power, couldn't you feel – oh no, probably not. It's an aura that one gets when they have been working with powerful magic for a long time, a sort of tangible accumulation of experience and knowledge. I've read about some of the things he's done, and despite his current state, he was quite amazing in his prime. Either way he grew ill some years ago, and hasn't been quite the sane- er I mean same, ever since.'

  The two quickly made their way back to Erasmus' room, without meeting any more ladder jumping children, mysteriously missing slaves, or insane old mages. Will had left lunch on the table, and although Erasmus claimed that he wasn't hungry, Bo's stomach was rumbling as soon as he smelled the delicious morsels, and he tucked in to the meal with gluttonous abandon. He was unable to eat everything, and after some time decided to take a nap on the bed. He had a lot to think about, but with the excitement of the day and a full belly, the teen quickly dropped into a pleasant doze.