Archmagister

by Kerns, Robert M.

  The specter nodded. “Of course, Milord.”

  Gavin held out his hands toward Hartley like a showman indicating a new prize. “See? Even Hartley does it.”

  The specter chose the better part of valor and simply faded away.

  Once everyone was seated, Gavin regarded his friends for a moment or two. “As much as I would like to think you tracked me down just to say ‘hi,’ I have a suspicion that’s not quite the case.”

  Lillian half-winced. “I’m afraid you’re right, Mi—Gavin. We were hoping to discuss something with you.”

  “Oh? What’s on your minds?”

  “We’re bored,” Mariana said. “We miss doing things.”

  Gavin grinned. “So, the novelty of being back home has already worn off, then?” All four of his friends nodded. “What would you like to be doing?”

  “Honestly, I’m not sure we’ve made it that far,” Braden answered. “I tried using the laboratory back home to work on researching imbued items, but it just didn’t grip me. It felt like…well, it felt second best.”

  Mariana nodded. “I tried a day back with the Battle-mages, and that got old fast. I ended up resigning, but Commander Roshan didn’t accept. He made me the official liaison with the Conclave of the Great Houses—basically detached duty. If he really needs me, he’ll call me, but otherwise, I’m pretty much on my own.”

  Gavin scanned the faces of his friends and sighed. “Want me to put you to work?”

  “What did you have in mind?” Lillian asked.

  “Well, I do have three apprentices who need training, and I seem to remember Wynn saying he enjoyed teaching. Beyond that, I also need to start rebuilding the old alliance. The members south of us already know me, but I’ve never been north. There are the giants, the dwarves, and the elves north of Tel…correct?”

  “The High Forest borders most of Tel to the north,” Mariana answered. “But the northeast corner touches the foothills of the Godswall Mountains and forms a kind of joint border with the dwarven and giant lands, respectively; it’s almost like a triple frontier. Depending on where you stand, you’re either in Tel, the dwarven lands, or the giant lands.”

  Gavin nodded. “Lillian, I would like for you and Mariana to go on a diplomatic mission to the northern races. Introduce the ‘new’ Kingdom of Tel, as it were, and investigate the possibility of exchanging ambassadors. Are you interested?”

  “When would you have us leave?” Lillian asked.

  “How long would it take you to prepare?” Gavin asked.

  Lillian looked to Mariana, who shrugged. “We could probably be ready to leave within three days, depending on the availability of supplies.”

  “Sold!” Gavin replied. “I’ll prepare a letter of introduction and a formal grant of diplomatic authority for you. Braden, do you mind visiting our friends to the south? Specifically, the dracons, Othron, and Vushaar? I’d like to invite them to a meeting of the old alliance members, here in Tel Mivar. Othron won’t need it but offer teleportation to the Vushaari and dracons’ representatives.”

  Braden nodded. “Sounds like fun.”

  “Very well, then,” Gavin said, nodding once. “Looks like that’s sorted. Who wants the two-copper tour?”

  Chapter 19

  Every instructor and student in the College occupied the galleries overlooking the Chamber of the Council. Several magisters waited in their seats at the large, horseshoe-shaped table. When the first afternoon bell rang, signaling the end of the midday meal period, a door that hadn’t been regularly used in almost six hundred years opened, and whispers soon filled the hall as the new Archmagister entered the chamber. The whispers took on an excited overtone as the Archmagister stepped into view.

  Gavin looked to Reyna by the door leading to the hall and nodded. “Bring them in.”

  Reyna and her fellow Inquisitor led the five students into the chamber and stopped them at the end of the carpet leading from the door to the recessed area where the magisters’ table stood.

  Gavin nodded once and lifted his eyes to the galleries. “I would have thought many of you would remember the stories of the fate that befell a group of Fifth Tier students last year who chose to haze First Tiers in my mentor group. And yet, I found these five students tormenting a young man I have since identified as a First Tier. I want each and every one of you to have a very clear understanding of this next point: few things set my blood to boiling more than bullies. I will not abide such conduct happening here.

  “For those who merely participated and cheered the torment on, they are suspended for the rest of the term and forfeit all academic progress beyond the beginning of Fourth Tier. The instigator of the group—the one responsible for using the Art to torment and torture another—is hereby suspended for the rest of the term and forfeits all academic progress beyond the start of Third Tier.

  “These five have used up all of my patience and compassion for this offense. The next time verified hazing occurs, the offender—or offenders—will receive fifteen lashes before the entire student body. The third time, those responsible will be expelled, and any knowledge they gained here will be stripped from their minds. The fourth time…well, perhaps you should pray to the gods that there is no fourth time.”

  Gavin shifted his attention to Reyna. “Inquisitor Reyna, please, notify the families of these individuals. On my authority, the families have one month to retrieve them from the College, or you will turn them out to the streets. See me if any of their families are sufficiently distant that one month is an unreasonable hardship. Any questions?”

  Reyna answered at once. “No, Milord.”

  Gavin shifted his attention back to the galleries. “My rulings in this matter will be posted throughout the College by the end of the day. The normal course schedule will resume for the next closest class time. All of you are dismissed.”

  Gavin pivoted on his heel and strode out of the chamber.

  * * *

  The maid led Lillian into Kiri’s suite. Kiri looked up from where she sat and smiled at seeing her friend. The maid left them, and Kiri came to Lillian, pulling her into fierce hug.

  “I know it’s only been a few days,” Kiri said, releasing Lillian, “but it feels like so much longer than that.”

  “I missed you, too,” Lillian agreed. “How have you been?”

  Kiri sighed. “Getting settled back into being the Crown Princess hasn’t quite overwhelmed me, but it’s been close a couple times.”

  Lillian nodded. “I can see that. It was tough for us to go back to Tel and not have anything to do. Well…it wasn’t that we didn’t have anything to do; it’s just that we were on our own. We could do whatever we wanted. It didn’t take long at all for that to be boring, as Mariana likes to say.”

  “Oh, my…what are you going to do?” Kiri asked as she led Lillian over to the sitting area, where they settled.

  “We talked it over with Gavin, and he gave us jobs. Wynn’s back to teaching Gavin’s apprentices. Braden will be visiting the dracons, Othron, and your father about setting up some kind of meeting of the old alliance.”

  Kiri smiled. “So, that’s two of you. What did Gavin have for you and Mariana?”

  “We’re putting together a diplomatic expedition to the giants, dwarves, and elves,” Lillian replied. “Gavin wants us to make the initial efforts toward repairing the damage done by the royal family. They weren’t especially kind to non-humans.”

  “I’ve never understood people who act like that,” Kiri said. “So…uhm…how’s Gavin? Is he settling in as Archmagister?”

  Lillian inhaled and released it very slowly. “You know, I’m not sure. I know he doesn’t like—no, I’m pretty sure he loathes people bowing and scraping to him. He disbanded the Royal Guard and only had to kill one person in the process, so that was good. When we spoke with him today, well, part of me wants to say he was putting on a happy face for us. I’m not really sure how happy he is.”

  “I wish I was there for him,” Kiri remarke
d. “I worry about him.”

  * * *

  The Necromancer strode into his suite at the very top of the fortress’s central keep. He pulled off the wizard’s medallion as well as the robe whose runes proclaimed him a magister and almost threw them into the armoire. Withdrawing one of his black robes that bore no runes, he settled it in place and walked to the window overlooking the mountains to the south.

  The mountain vista normally helped to calm him, but not at this moment. He ground his teeth together as he considered all that had happened over the past couple days. Not only was there a new Archmagister, but it was none other than that reckless upstart Marcus had trained.

  How was he supposed to create a force capable of resisting Lornithar’s hordes if he was defeated and opposed at every turn?

  Even an infant should be able to understand that the old alliance was little more than a corpse, clutching at life like some kind of terminally ill beggar. That much had been apparent even a thousand years ago, and the solution seemed so clear: infiltrate the governments making up the old alliance, suborn them utterly, and then announce victory. Then, all that remained would be to start assembling the forces necessary to march east through Hope’s Pass and put an end to the threat of Lornithar’s minions once and for all.

  But no. His former mentor, Emperor Xartham, hadn’t seen the plan as being achievable, and their argument over the disagreement was so fierce he hadn’t spoken to Xartham since, a thousand years later. And Othron, the one who had taught Xartham how to cheat death, had no interest in supporting his plans. The old lich had made that plain enough the one time they’d talked.

  It had taken over five hundred years to gather the artifacts and devise the rituals and spells that allowed him to maintain the undead army that had captured Skullkeep, and it had seemed like everything was falling into place, just like it should. Until Gavin Cross.

  A cautious knock pulled the Necromancer out his musings. He turned, wanting to glare at the door but couldn’t bring himself to do it.

  “Enter,” he called, his voice not quite a growl.

  The lieutenant who often served as his liaison entered the room.

  “Master, please forgive the interruption,” the young man said. “Word just arrived of the Archmagister’s identity. It is Gavin Cross of House Kirloth.”

  The Necromancer’s thoughts flitted back to his seat in the Chamber of the Council of Magisters for just a moment before he said, “I already know.”

  Chapter 20

  The sun shone down from a cloudless sky, and hints of salt and the harbor drifted on the breeze. Gavin stood with Lillian, Mariana, Wynn, and Braden in the College’s courtyard. Lillian and Mariana held the reins of horses outfitted for long travel, and Braden stood with them.

  “Do you have everything you need?” Gavin asked.

  Mariana nodded. “We have what we know we need, and we can both teleport back if we run into something serious.”

  “Very well,” Gavin replied. He reached inside his robe and withdrew two small discs that looked to be made of sandstone or something similar. Both surfaces held a number of runes etched in them, and the Glyph of Kirloth occupied the center. “Each of you take one of these. If you need help and can’t teleport back here, snap one in half; I’ll be there. Braden, here’s one for you, too, just in case.”

  Braden nodded as he and his friends accepted the discs.

  “I’ll open a gateway to home,” Mariana said. “That will bring us much closer to the border and cut a few days off our travel time.”

  Gavin nodded. “Give my regards to your mother, please.”

  “I will.”

  Mariana turned, prompting Lillian to do so as well. She lifted her free hand and invoked the Word of Transmutation. “Paedryx.”

  Gavin felt the resonance of her power as an archway of burgundy-colored, crackling energy rose from the courtyard’s cobblestones. When the archway was tall enough to accommodate the horses, the center flashed and became a portal to another place. Lillian led Mariana through the gateway, which vanished after Mariana’s transit.

  “Well, I guess that’s my cue,” Braden said in his deep, rumbling voice. “I’ll visit Vushaar first, then Othron, and finally the dracons. I thought to save the dracons for last, since they have the least distance to travel.”

  “That works,” Gavin replied. “Be safe, and don’t forget that disc if you need me.”

  “Thanks,” Braden said. “I can’t imagine I’d be more than a week, but if my progress is slower than I anticipate, I’ll send word.”

  With that, Braden turned, invoking the same Word as Mariana. Unlike Gavin or Mariana, the energy of his gateway was a deep, deep green. Seconds later, Gavin and Wynn stood alone.

  As Gavin turned toward the Tower, Wynn said, “I wanted to ask your thoughts on enrolling Holly, at least, in some of the basic classes here at the College. She’s just about the right age to start regular school, at least here in Tel. Does Vushaar offer general schooling to their people?”

  Gavin noticed Wynn was speaking slower than he normally did and almost asked him about it. Then, he realized it was probably an effect of teaching the apprentices. Teaching would be very difficult if the learner couldn’t keep up with the instructor.

  “I have no idea, Wynn,” Gavin answered. “That’s something that never came up. I see no reason not to enroll Holly, and we should show the class list to Xythe and Jasper to see if there are any classes they’d like to take that won’t be covered by the apprenticeships. Let’s go talk with Valera.”

  Gavin and Wynn entered the reception office for the Collegiate Justice. Sera looked up from her desk as the door opened and visibly forced her expression to remain neutral. She stood and bowed once as she said, “I’ll inform the magister that you’re here, Milord.”

  Sera stepped into Valera’s private office and returned almost immediately. “The magister can see you now.”

  Gavin nodded. “Thank you, Sera.”

  Leading Wynn around Sera’s desk, Gavin opened the door and stepped inside. As he entered, Valera smiled and stood, offering a deep bow.

  “What can I do for you, Gavin?” Valera asked as she shook Gavin’s hand and then Wynn’s. She gestured to the two chairs and, once Gavin eased into one, resumed her seat.

  “Wynn has been handling the training of my apprentices,” Gavin began, “and he brought me an excellent idea. One of my apprentices is a young girl by the name of Holly Walsh, and she’s young enough that I’m not sure what kind of general schooling she’s had. I know the College makes a provision for that in the curriculum, and the only class I’m completely opposed to her taking is the one dealing with the history of Tel. You and I both know quite a bit of it is utterly wrong, especially about certain aspects of the Founding.”

  Valera nodded. “Yes. You’re not the first to broach the topic of our history curriculum. How would you like it changed?”

  Gavin blinked. “I’m sorry? How would I like it changed?”

  “Yes, of course. As the Archmagister, you have final authority over the College’s entire curriculum and faculty roster. Previous Archmagisters have left the day-to-day administration of the College to the Council of Magisters, but there’s absolutely no reason you can’t exercise your office’s traditional authority.”

  “In that case, the history curriculum—at least the course material surrounding the Godswar and the Founding—should be based on Mivar’s Histories,” Gavin replied. “I have it on very reliable authority that they are the most accurate accounts, and the textbook that makes no mention of Mivar, Bellos, and Kirloth devising the system of spells mages use should be removed from printing. That’s merely the most egregious of its inaccuracies.”

  Valera nodded and made a note before picking up a bell on the corner of the desk and ringing it twice. Within moments, Sera entered.

  “Yes, ma’am?” Sera asked.

  “Sera,” Valera replied, “would you please retrieve…oh, say, five copies of the class list
for the upcoming term?”

  Sera nodded once and closed the door behind her. Moments later, she returned with the requested class lists, handing them to Wynn and leaving once more.

  “Once you know what classes your apprentices will be joining, let me know, and I’ll see that they’re registered,” Valera said. “Now…as long as I have you here, do you have a moment for a slightly related topic?”

  Gavin grinned. “Of course, Valera, and thank you for the class lists.”

  “What are your thoughts on establishing a curriculum specific to wizards?”

  “The idea bears merit,” Gavin replied and turned to Wynn. “Ever given any thought to becoming a full-time instructor here?”

  “I have not,” Wynn answered, “but I’m certainly not opposed.”

  Valera almost gaped at Wynn. “Forgive me, Wynn, but I think that’s the slowest I’ve ever heard you speak.”

  Wynn’s cheeks and ears took on a redder hue. “Yes…well, I learned in Vushaar that Gavin’s apprentices were having difficulty following what I was saying, so I practiced slowing down and speaking with what I hope is greater clarity.”

  “If I may say so, you’re doing a fine job. I’m proud of you,” Valera said, making Wynn’s blush deepen.

  Gavin smiled. “What do we need to do to start this wizard-specific curriculum?”

  “Personally, I would love to have you both teaching,” Valera replied, “but I realize the demands of being Archmagister might prevent you from doing so, Gavin. If you like, I will work with Wynn to get the curriculum ready for your review.”

  “That’s probably best,” Gavin agreed, nodding. “If you have the time for preliminary discussions right now and if Wynn is available, I can leave you to it while I pursue other items on my list.”

  Wynn nodded. “Today’s a practice day for Holly and the others, so I have time.”