by T. J. Klune
I grinned at him. “That’s how you know it’s real.”
“Sam, there is no such thing as Fiery Mind Explosion of Doom.”
“A wizard is only restrained by the limits of his imagination,” I recited dutifully.
“I will regret ever having taught you that,” he said. “Mark my words.”
I reached over and patted his hand. “Probably. But if it’s not exploding things, then what is it?”
“I need you to listen to me, Sam. Because this may be the most important thing you could learn as a wizard.”
And didn’t that just send my heart racing.
“Do you know what a cornerstone is?” he asked me.
I shook my head, because I still didn’t know a lot of things. “Is it important?”
“Oh yes,” he said. “It might just be the most important thing. You see, Sam, when a foundation is laid, the first stone placed atop it is called the cornerstone. It is important because all other stones will be set in reference to it. It helps to determine the position of the entire structure. Do you understand?”
I nodded.
“Magic works the same way. It builds upon itself after the foundation is laid. A cornerstone is needed to direct how the magic will grow. Without it, the magic would be shapeless. Or worse, it could grow out of control into something wicked. Something dark.”
“Like the Dark wizards?” I asked quietly.
“Yes, little one,” Morgan said. “Like the Dark wizards. Their magic is a misshapen thing, something grotesque and flawed. They think themselves above structure. Above a cornerstone. They see it as a hindrance. A restraint. Something that could hold them back.”
“But it isn’t.”
“No. It’s not.”
I scrunched up my forehead in thought. “But… I don’t want to carry a stone with me forever. It’d get heavy.”
There was a smile on my mentor’s face, and how my heart thumped at the sight of it. This man, this strange, strange man who had come out of nowhere to rescue my family from a life they didn’t deserve, had become very important to me. I don’t know that I was old enough to understand the specifics of love. I knew I loved my mother. I knew I loved my father. And I knew I loved Morgan of Shadows equally, but in a category all his own. I didn’t understand it, but I wouldn’t question it.
“You won’t have to carry anything physical, little one. Though there are times the weight of it will seem like a burden.”
I squinted at him. “Is this a riddle? I’m not very good at riddles. But I’m good at telling jokes. Everyone says so.”
He shook his head. “No. No riddles. Not about this. Sam, a cornerstone isn’t a thing. It’s a person.”
“A… person?”
“Yes,” he said. “A person who will come to mean more to you than almost any other. One day your magic will recognize them. It may not happen right away. You may know this person for years before it happens. But one day your magic will say, Here they are. Here is the person that will help us become more than we ever thought we could be.”
I understood, but only in that way that twelve-year-old boys understand things. “But… but what if it’s a girl?”
“Then so it will be.”
“But I don’t like girls,” I said. And I really didn’t. Most girls I dealt with in the castle that were my age didn’t have time for a boy who sometimes forgot that you couldn’t put your elbows on the table and that it’s not polite to blow your nose into a napkin, Sam, not everyone wants to see that.
“Would you rather it be a boy?” Morgan asked, arching an eyebrow.
“Can’t it just be you?” I asked. “You already make me happy.”
Something stuttered across his face, something I was too young to understand. He moved until he was leaning against the counter at my side, arm wrapped around me, holding me close. I lay my head on his shoulder, feeling our magic mingle as it always did when we were together. Little stray hairs from his beard tickled my nose as he laid his head atop mine. “And you make me happy too,” he said quietly. “More than you could possibly know. But no, Sam. I don’t think it’s me. But don’t you worry. You’ll find them.”
“But… but how do I find one person out of the whole world?”
He chuckled. “There’s more than one, Sam. It’s about fate and the ties that bind you together. Maybe you already know this person. Maybe you have yet to meet. But until fate is ready to reveal them to you, you’ll just have to wait. It’ll happen.”
“You promise? I don’t want to be a Dark. I like it here with you.”
He hesitated. But then he said, “I promise,” and I believed him.
There was a moment then, years later, when I stood in a restaurant, a hush falling on the people in the room. Behind me sat a man named Todd with the most adorable ears. In front of me was a group of Dark wizards, monologuing their intentions for revenge after the death of Lartin the Dark Leaf.
And beside me?
Beside me stood Ryan Foxheart, sword drawn and at the ready. He hadn’t even hesitated to stand with me at my side. He didn’t question me. He didn’t tell me to stand down. All it took was for a threat to rise against us before he prepared himself to fight at my side.
And there, in that moment, my magic sang.
There was no ritual. There was no process. He just was. We didn’t have to paint runes on our skin out of sheep’s blood and dance naked around a fire under a Hunter’s Moon. There was no archaic spell that had to be performed that created ties between us that would bind us together. Every cornerstone was different to every wizard. Some were romantic. Some were platonic. Some were even familial.
But the fact remained that there was no one way to find your cornerstone. There was no one way to act with your cornerstone. Ryan was enough because he was there. He kept me away from the dark. He led me toward the light. It was the way he smiled at me, eyes crinkling, a hint of teeth. It was the way he trailed his fingers along my bare skin as we lay side by side, the room only lit with faint candlelight. It was the way he trusted me to take care of myself, but also trusted me to have his back. It was the way he knew I would never take him for granted.
That was what it meant to be a cornerstone.
And in the time I’d accepted him as such, I’d only grown stronger.
There are limits to magic.
But I didn’t know if there were limits to me.
AND NOW I stood with my arms crossed, glaring at Morgan. He leaned against a stone counter in the labs, a far-off look on his face. Ryan was next to me, twitching like he wanted to stab the problem to death. Which, honestly, I didn’t blame him for. The others were upstairs after Vadoma’s announcement had dissolved the tense conversation into utter chaos, with Gary asking if he had to choke a bitch, Tiggy threatening to smash everything in sight, Kevin suggesting all the men in the room solve their problems with an orgy, my mother having to be held back by my father, Justin looking supremely annoyed (which, in retrospect, wasn’t really any different), and the King proclaiming no one would come into his castle and tell his wizard (Apprentice, Gary had coughed obnoxiously) what to do.
Morgan, however, had gotten the same look on his face that he had right now. Like he was thinking back on all the mistakes in his life that had led to this point and was getting ready to apologize for everything he’d done so we could hug it out like bros and move past this.
“I’m not apologizing for anything,” he said, “if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“What?” I said, sufficiently outraged. “I wasn’t thinking that at all. And why not? You totally owe me! You practically had me wedded off to someone I don’t even know! Did you sell me for some chickens? I swear to the gods, Morgan, if you didn’t hold off for at least a goat, we’re going to have a fucking problem here.”
“Really, Sam?” Ryan growled. “A goat? That’s going to be the problem here?”
“Relax, babe,” I said, relaxing my scowl so I could kiss Ryan on the cheek. “You know you’
re my one and only. I don’t care if it was two goats. You’re stuck with me forever.”
“It’d better at least been two goats and a pig or something,” Ryan mumbled. “You’re worth at least that much.”
“Wow,” I said. “I don’t know how I feel about that at all.”
Morgan sighed. “Can we focus here? Please? If that’s not too much to ask.”
I glared at him again. “Right. Because you’re in so much trouble, you don’t even know. What the hell was she talking about? I don’t have another cornerstone. And even if I did, I choose Ryan. I will always choose Ryan.”
“Damn right,” Ryan said. “Because I’m awesome. I don’t stand and pose like that asshole—”
“Not the best argument,” I muttered to him under my breath. “You do that all the time.”
“—I mean call myself the Wolf. You know who does that? Jackasses do that.”
“Fist-pound me,” I demanded.
Ryan didn’t even hesitate. Like a boss.
We were a godsdamned united front against the tyranny of outside forces who wanted to do nothing more than to break our epic love apart. Well, we wouldn’t stand for it! We would rise up against—
“You’re narrating in your head, aren’t you?” Morgan asked.
“What? No. Of course not. Who does that? That’s stupid. But enough about me, let’s get back to you and how much trouble you’re in. After, of course, you tell me everything and why you sold me for chickens and not two goats and a pig like I’m obviously worth.”
“I’ve never hidden from you what a cornerstone is, Sam,” Morgan said. “Not once. You knew from the very beginning that there was the potential for there to be more than one. Fate doesn’t deal in absolutes. There is always going to be some obscurity behind it.”
“Gods,” I muttered. “I hate it when you get philosophical.”
“But even if that’s the case,” Ryan said, “it doesn’t matter. I’m Sam’s cornerstone. He felt drawn to me. He didn’t feel anything for Ruv, which, by the way, who names their child Ruv?”
“Gypsies do, babe,” I said. “It’s actually a pretty common name.”
“Oh. Right. Well. Okay, then.”
“Also,” I said, wincing slightly. “I don’t know that it’s completely accurate that I didn’t feel anything when he came into the room.”
“What,” Ryan said without any inflection to signify punctuation, which made it that much worse.
“Yeah, um. See? So. Maybe. My magic? Might have jumped. Just a little.”
“Your magic jumped,” Ryan repeated in that same flat tone.
“Just a little,” I reassured him, giving him the best smile I could.
“Okay,” Ryan said.
“Okay?” That was easier than I thought it would be. I was sure he’d—
“Okay,” Ryan said. “I’m going to go stab him with my sword.”
And there it was.
He started to unsheathe his weapon and turned toward the door before I snagged him by the arm, pulling him back. “You can’t murder him just because you feel like it.”
“He made your magic jump,” Ryan argued. “That’s how it starts. First it’s your magic, and then it’s your dick, and then you’re staring at me, wondering why I don’t make your magic or dick jump anymore. And then you’ll get really bitter toward me and wonder why I can’t bend and touch my foot to the back of my head like he can, and then you’ll run away with Ruv—seriously, what is up with that name?—and get married and have little gypsy babies or some shit.”
I gaped at him.
He glared at the floor, hand still clutching his sword.
“I’m not going to do any of that,” I finally said. “But wow. That was impressive. Dude. I am impressed.”
He rolled his eyes. “It doesn’t take much to impress you, Sam.”
“Lucky you, then.”
“Hey!”
But I was already turning back to Morgan, who watched us with a fond look on his face. “He’s not my cornerstone,” I said. “Ryan is. And nothing is going to change that.”
“Oh, I’m aware,” Morgan said. “And I’m pretty sure everyone else in the castle is too if the way you bellowed exactly that was as loud as I think it was.”
“Why is she here?” I asked, suddenly very, very tired. By now, Ryan and I should have been curled up together in my bed, his hands on me, skin slick with sweat. The fact that I was dealing with this instead was not doing anything for my mood. “And what deal did you make with her? No bullshit here, Morgan. And I swear to the gods, if I hear the word destiny out of your mouth again, I will kick you in the nutsac. I really will.”
He sighed. “You have a destiny, Sam.”
Ryan managed to pull me back just in time.
“I do not,” I snapped at him. “I don’t have anything aside from what’s right here. I don’t want anything else but what’s right—what are you doing? Who are you calling?”
Morgan had pulled out his summoning crystal from a pocket in his robes, a thin piece of quartz that caught the candlelight in the labs. A bright spark shot off in the middle of the crystal and faded almost immediately. A second passed. And then another. And then—
“Do you know what time it is?” an angry voice said.
I groaned. This day was getting worse by the second.
“It’s half past nine,” Morgan said.
And the wizard known as Randall harrumphed. “I know what time it is. I was making sure you did. Seeing as how you do, I will move on to the next question. Why are you summoning me at such an ungodly hour?”
“Summoning,” I said, elbowing Ryan. “Old people these days. Why can’t he just say calling like everyone else?”
Ryan looked adorably confused. “Isn’t it called a summoning crystal?”
“Shut up.”
“Is that Sam I hear?” Randall asked sharply.
I frantically waved my arms at Morgan, shaking my head and mouthing no, no, no.
“Yes,” Morgan said. “And Ryan Foxheart.”
“What did they do now?” Randall asked. “They get stuck together like dogs in heat and can’t handle it? Back in my day, we wouldn’t break apart for hours if we could help it.”
I choked on my tongue.
“It all started with the Sweeney cousins. There were five of them, and we each took turns—”
“Whyyy,” I moaned, covering my ears, trying to block out everything I could. Still, certain things filtered in like, and then he put it up my and we didn’t have time to add spicy mustard and it ended up being stickier than I imagined.
“—and that’s how we ended up in a daisy chain for the entire weekend,” Randall finished a few minutes later. “Those were different times. Men were men and did manly things. None of this fancy poof stuff like Sam here.”
“Fancy poof stuff?” I exclaimed. “I’m going to turn your eyes into dicks! And then everyone is going to call you dick… eyes. Okay, I didn’t think that through, but I reserve the right to come back to it when I think of a name that will scar you forever.”
“Yes, yes, I’m sure it will be devastating. You still haven’t explained why you’ve summoned me and won’t stop talking.”
Before I could remind him that he’d been the one going on for at least five minutes about cousin-loving, Morgan said, “Vadoma Tshilaba has come to Castle Lockes.”
There was a beat of silence. Then, “Shit.”
“Wait, he knew too?” I asked. “Of course he did. Because assholes stick together.”
“He probably hasn’t shut up about it, eh?” Randall asked.
“Not even the slightest,” Morgan said. “Irate is probably the best description.”
“You’re damn right I’m ir—”
“Give me a minute,” Randall grunted. “These old bones don’t move as quickly as they used to. Hip, especially. Apparently, being almost seven hundred years old makes your body ache more than usual. Who would have thought?”
“Maybe you
should just die, then,” I muttered darkly.
“Certainly not I,” Morgan said mildly, like he had all the time in the world.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” Randall said. “Pissing every five minutes, hands shaking, erectile dysfunction. Getting old is the worst.”
“He’s coming here?” I asked. “But that’ll take weeks. We don’t have time for—”
“You’re still kind of stupid, aren’t you?” Randall said from directly behind me.
The noise that came out of me was not a high-pitched scream, no matter what any of them said. It wasn’t.
I whirled around, and sure enough, the most powerful wizard in the known world stood there, looking as grumpy and decrepit as always. His eyebrows looked like they had finally won the Battle of the Forehead and had begun to spread out in thick, wiry white hairs that seemed to reach his ears and nostrils. He was still in his pajamas, a striped onesie that was blown out on one knobby knee. On his feet were a pair of bunny slippers that I was sure wriggled their noses and whiskers, eyes blinking slowly. Randall himself watched me with a look of mild disdain with a dash of disgust and exasperation mixed in. He must have found me lacking as usual, because he clucked his tongue and shook his head.
“Sam,” he said. “I had hoped I wouldn’t have to see you for at least another year or so. I don’t know that I’m mentally prepared for more of your inane prattling. But of course, this is just another fine mess you’ve gotten yourself into.”
My heart was still beating wildly in my chest. “How did you do that?”
He rolled his rheumy eyes. “I’m a wizard, Sam. If you didn’t know that, I will suggest to Morgan that he find a more appropriate job for you. Possibly in the kitchens. Or on your back in Meridian City.”
“You just teleported from Castle Freeze Your Ass Off all the way here? That’s not possible!”
“Still slow on the uptake, I see,” Randall said to Morgan as he shuffled his way to the stuffed high-back chair Morgan had set aside for him near the fireplace. “Do you think that’ll ever go away, or is he going to be like that forever?”
“I seem to remember you saying the same thing about me,” Morgan said. “In that same tone of voice, even.”