Scholar of Magic

by Michael G. Manning

  “I don’t have enough context for any of what you just said to make sense,” complained Will.

  “You don’t have much time left either, numbskull, but fine. You know about congruences, places where our plane of existence touches other worlds, like Faerie. The astral plane is one that doesn’t have any congruences with our world because it touches it everywhere. It touches our world at every point. It’s sort of like skin, covering every part of your body, but in this case, it covers every part of our world, as well as every other world.

  “So the key here is that you won’t see congruences with the astral, because it’s already everywhere. Another point to remember is that it isn’t a physical plane, like ours is. Only the mind or spirit, whatever you want to call it, can travel there.

  “The ethereal is similar, except it actually is a physical plane and you can travel there. It’s sort of like a mirror copy of our reality, except that when you’re there, this world is intangible, ghost-like, and when you’re here, the ethereal is intangible to you. Do you understand?”

  Will rubbed his temples. “I have so many questions.”

  “Well, stuff them for now. We have a few high-priority things to cover before the sun goes down. Number one, your grandmother may or may not be trying to kill you.”

  He had gathered that from the conversation he had overheard previously. “And you think she’s using the astral plane to spy on me?”

  “She can’t access the astral plane,” said the ring. “She’s fae. They quite literally don’t have souls the way we—er, you—do. Their physical existence is actually a piece of the Faerie realm, so they can’t separate from it and access a purely mental plane like the astral.”

  “Then why did you want me to use this force-dome?”

  “How many friends do you have, Will? No, never mind, don’t answer that. There’s no point in me humiliating you by focusing on your stunted social growth. Think instead about how many people you know, how many you can ask favors of, how many owe you a debt, or could be paid to help. You’re still just a child. Aislinn is powerful beyond your conception. She’s regarded as a goddess in many parts of the world, and she’s had centuries to cultivate allies and resources. What does this tell you?”

  Will was nodding along, having already gotten the point. “She could have all sorts of different people or beings spying on me in any number of ways. Also, you have a lot of balls saying my social growth is stunted. You were a hermit when I met you.”

  “I used to have lots of friends,” argued Arrogan, “but let’s not get into what I did to them. I just want you to be aware that you can’t blindly trust Aislinn.”

  “It’s a little late for that.”

  “You just need to keep in mind that she’s essentially insane. She’s almost like two different people battling for control. One is the memory of her human self, the one who promised to stay true to her original principles as a decent human being, even as she was slowly being eroded away by the essence of Faerie. The other is what she actually is, an immortal, immoral, and ultimately selfish creature that vehemently despises the promises that her previously mortal self made before her transformation was complete.”

  He shook his head. “I just don’t understand how she can be both.”

  “Imagine this as an example. Perhaps there’s something dangerous about to come along, like a vampire apocalypse. Her promise forces her to help you, but she can justify a lot by telling herself that surviving such a thing without her assistance will make you stronger. A lot can be ignored by saying it’s for your own good. Depending on how she stretches things, she could almost justify trying to kill you herself, or setting you up for any number of near-fatal challenges. One part of her is bound to offer you advice, while the other is actively hoping it can find something that will put you out of her misery.”

  Thinking back on Tailtiu’s frequently murderous attempts to teach him to expect surprise attacks, he could see how Aislinn’s methods might be similar on an entirely different and more terrifying scale. “Are you suggesting she engineered this vampire problem?”

  Arrogan was silent for a moment. “I don’t know. I can’t say for certain either way, but there’s a possibility of that and you should be aware of it.”

  “But if that’s true—” Will stopped; his brain couldn’t complete the thought. Finally, he burst out, “Tailtiu is her daughter!”

  “Maybe that was accidental. Then again, maybe she felt Tailtiu was helping you too much. Either way, I can assure you she won’t feel a thing no matter what happens to her daughter.”

  The sky was growing steadily darker, prompting Will to hurry. “So what do you think I should focus on right now?”

  “First, you guarded that bastard Nerrow’s house last night. There was an attack, but what about elsewhere? Was there a slaughter like I predicted? Were there a few attacks or many? You need to keep your eye on the bigger picture. Laina Nerrow may just be a small part of the story.”

  Will hadn’t inquired about any of that. But I should have. There were simply too many things that needed to be done, and he was only one person. “I’ll find out what I can in the morning.” Then he released the limnthal, dismissed the force-dome, and headed back to the house. Tiny was waiting for him.

  Chapter 20

  That night passed uneventfully. Will was glad to see that Darla had resumed her watch across the street, but she didn’t come over to speak to them, and they returned the favor. While he hadn’t really wanted anything to happen, as the sun began to brighten the horizon, he felt as though he’d wasted the night. He could have slept, or prepared, or done something useful.

  When they got home, they found Blake waiting for them, along with Janice, who apparently had some news. Blake spoke first, though. “I made more porridge,” he announced.

  Tiny was starving, as usual, and he grinned at the information. “Thanks!”

  Will knew him for a fool, though, and when they began to eat, he was vindicated in his belief. The porridge was bad, but not lethal. Blake watched intently as they ate, while Janice looked on with pity, for she had already had a portion before their arrival.

  “How is it?” asked the manservant anxiously.

  “Not bad,” said Tiny graciously.

  Everyone held their breath as all eyes turned to Will. After a moment he responded, “Well, if I had to eat this every day I wouldn’t starve to death, but I would probably wish that I could. It’s better than what you tried to poison Tiny with yesterday, though, so that’s something.”

  “It’s not that bad, is it?” asked Blake.

  “You do realize that salt pork is salty, right? You don’t have to add additional salt if you use that with it. Also, you burned the onions.”

  “I did?”

  “That’s where the bitterness came from,” explained Will. Just out of Blake’s line of sight, he could see Janice nodding in silent agreement, though she was too tactful to say anything out loud.

  Despite Will’s complaints, the porridge was still edible, and he was tired and hungry, so he ate. Janice waited, clearly anxious to share her news, and Will obliged by forcing the porridge down as quickly as he could manage. The upside was that he didn’t have to taste it as much that way. “All right,” he said at last. “It’s obvious you’re excited. What did you discover? Is it something about the relic?”

  She shook her head. “No, something completely unexpected. I went to arrange for the alchemy supplies, and when I asked about the white phosphorous, Professor Karlovic told me that it had all been bought up.”

  That caught his attention. “Could it have been the military? Lognion has obviously been preparing for this. Blake told me he had ordered a lot of weapons with silver inlay.”

  “The professor said that the military maintains a separate supply since they use alchemical fire for some of their standard operations. This was bought by a private merchant in the city just a couple of weeks ago.”

  “Before we knew anything about this,”
muttered Will. An image flashed in his mind for a second, the vial of alchemical fire that had been thrown at the Nerrow home. It hadn’t occurred to him at the time, but the glass vial was much like the ones he had bought from Wurthaven. They were produced by a local glass blower. The alchemical fire had been made in Cerria.

  Tracing the maker down through sales of vials probably wouldn’t be practical, but finding the merchant who bought the rare and dangerous white phosphorous was a sure lead. He started to say something, but Janice spoke first. “I have the merchant’s name here.” She pushed a piece of paper across the table. On it was written a name, “Factor Jorn Slidden.” It was followed by an address close to the central market in the city. “He’s a trader,” explained Janice. “He keeps a warehouse by the river docks too and does a lot of business in a variety of commodities, though he specializes in wool. White phosphorous isn’t part of what I think would be his usual business.”

  Will nodded. “So he probably served as a buyer for whoever the alchemist was that produced the alchemical fire. Did Karlovic say how much he bought?”

  “Something close to two hundred pounds, all that they had,” she informed him.

  “That’s enough for thousands of vials,” said Will.

  Blake chimed in, “When I was doing special service, we used it quite often. You can wreck a city’s hierarchy and control structure with a few judiciously placed fires. Burn out the right homes or businesses and you can sow chaos and throw the government into disarray. Use more and you can start fires so big the whole city will burn. We usually preferred not to cause massive casualties like that, since they could be politically counterproductive, but you don’t know what the enemy’s objective is here.”

  “I’m starting to feel alarmed,” said Will in a dry tone.

  Tiny jumped in. “You’re just now feeling alarmed? I started the other night when that thing tried to rip my face off!”

  Will smiled. “I was being sarcastic.” He turned to Janice. “You found out a lot about the trader pretty quickly.”

  “I skipped class. Rob was a big help too,” she answered.

  “Rob?”

  “Who would you ask if you want to know about the latest gossip? Plus, he knows a lot of people. He ferreted out most of the information about Jorn within the first hour of me asking. I think he feels bad about jumping down your throat the other day,” said Janice.

  “Did you tell him about the vampires?” asked Will.

  She shook her head. “No, but he knows something crazy is going on.”

  “How?”

  “Because you’re involved, and I wouldn’t answer his questions. He took everything very seriously, even though I know he must have been annoyed.”

  Will felt even guiltier regarding his friend. “If you see him later, tell him I’m sorry, and next time he should come with you. I’ll explain everything to him.”

  “So I should tell him about the vampires?” she asked.

  He nodded, yawning. Glancing over, he could see Tiny struggling to keep his eyes open. “We should get some rest.”

  Tiny got to his feet. They were both still clad in their armor. “I’ll see to our gear. You should bathe first this time.”

  Will smiled. “Why don’t we all take a bath together?” Most of them frowned at that remark, but Janice’s eyes were glued to his palm, where a complex spell was slowly coming together. As he got close to completion, the structure trembled slightly on the verge of falling apart, but it stabilized again, and Will invested the turyn necessary to make it work. Seconds later, the magic expanded, taking in the room and his friends.

  He was rewarded with a series of gasps, followed by some ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’. Selene’s spell was not only effective, it was pleasant to experience firsthand, unlike most cleaning spells. Janice eyed him appreciatively. “You finally did it! When did that happen?”

  “Yesterday,” said Will. “I’ve been trying for almost a year now.”

  “I’m still struggling with fifth-order spells,” she said enviously.

  He grinned. “You spend too much time in the library.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “It also helps that you can waste turyn without worrying about your health, and that you train constantly.”

  “Don’t let Sir Kyle find out about this,” cautioned Tiny with a chuckle. He was studying his armor closely. “He’ll convince them to conscript you again and you’ll spend the rest of your days cleaning and maintaining armor for the army.”

  Blake was staring at the table. “Even the bowls are clean!”

  “I did the whole room,” said Will. “It took more energy, but you’ll find that the floor is clean too and everything else has been dusted.”

  “How about the rest of the house?” asked the manservant hopefully.

  “I’m tired and you need a job. I’m headed to bed,” said Will with a tone of finality.

  ***

  Selene fell into her bed, her nerves frayed, and her body exhausted. The skin of her hands felt raw from scrubbing floors. Floors she could have cleaned in seconds if she had been allowed to use her magic.

  The room was dim, and she was alone, terribly alone, inside and out. Seeing Will had only reminded her of how miserable she was. The people she worked for treated her like garbage at the best of times, and the rest of the time they insulted her to her face, calling her a ‘drab.’

  She had held up well for the first few months, but her emotional endurance was beginning to fail her. If it hadn’t been for Sylandrea, she would have cracked already. He was the only one who treated her with a modicum of respect.

  As often happened, thinking of him brightened her mood for a moment, and she saw an image of him in her mind. Long, slender limbs with just the right amount of muscle, graceful shoulders that supported a face that any artist would kill to paint.

  She could see him standing in the doorway, looking at her with concern as the light flooded in from behind him, illuminating his golden hair. I’m dreaming again, she reminded herself.

  “Are you well?” came a distinctly masculine voice. The words were slow and stilted, spoken by lips that hadn’t yet mastered the intricacies of her tongue.

  Selene sat up in alarm, realizing it wasn’t a dream. “Syl? Is that you?”

  He closed the door and crossed the room quickly, seeming to glide across the floor. “I was worried about you. You seemed dispirited when I saw you earlier.”

  She knew it was inappropriate, even in his culture, for a man to enter a woman’s room, even that of a drab, but in that moment she didn’t care. Something about his kindness coaxed a sob from her throat. Leaning forward, she threw her arms around his waist.

  He stiffened for a moment, then embraced her shoulders. A moment later, she felt his delicate fingers running through her hair, and a shiver went up her spine. Her heartbeat quickened. She held on, not daring to look up, to meet his eyes. If she did, he would see the desire in them and that would be the end of their friendship. His kind didn’t associate with drabs, much less touch them. Then why is he touching me now? she wondered.

  His fingers laced through the hair at the back of her head and tightened as he pulled her head back. She gasped at the sudden pain, and then their eyes locked. Leaning down, he crushed his mouth against hers, his tongue diving in. She fought him for a moment, but then he pulled away, leaving her gasping. “Wait,” she told him. “I’m confused.”

  He watched her with burning eyes. “Tell me what you want.”

  “I’m not sure,” she replied, but her hands were moving across his back. At some point she had slipped them under his shirt without even realizing it. She needed the contact, the feeling of another living being. She needed him.

  Her arms were pulling him closer, eager to enfold him. She could feel his fingers sliding up the inside of her skirt, sending delightful shivers of pleasure along her nerves.

  And then she began to cry, even as she peeled his shirt away so she could kiss his chest. The tears flowed silently,
though she couldn’t stop herself. Her passion was too great.

  “William, I’m sorry,” she said softly, whispering in her lover’s ear.

  “William! Wake up!”

  ***

  Will’s eyes shot wide as he started awake. His face was hot and puffy, his throat still half choked by the sobs working their way up from his diaphragm. Janice was beside him, staring down from where she sat at the bedside. Her hand was on his chest, shaking him. “Are you all right? You were having a nightmare.”

  He could hardly think. He felt broken, angry, upset, and paradoxically—somewhat aroused. Don’t forget embarrassed, he told himself as he turned his head to wipe his eyes on a pillow. Janice’s hand was still on his chest, burning like a hot brand. He sat up in the bed, catching the sheet before it fell to his waist, and Janice pulled her hand away. “Are you all right?” she asked again.

  “I’m not sure,” he admitted. “It felt real. Why are you in here?”

  “I came a little while ago. Your manservant said he would wake you, but then he decided he would make lunch first to surprise you. I snuck away so I could warn you.”

  “You should have knocked,” he admonished her, pulling the coverlets closer to cover an even more embarrassing morning reaction.

  Janice scowled. “I did, but then I heard you moaning and whimpering through the door. I wasn’t sure what had happened to you.” A sudden click announced the arrival of yet another person in Will’s bedroom. Janice leapt to her feet while Will took the opportunity to pull yet more covers over himself.

  Tiny stood in the doorway, his mouth agape. Janice flushed red instantly. “It isn’t anything strange,” she blurted out. “I was just waking him up.”

  The big man’s mouth slowly closed, though his expression remained blank. Without a word, he backed out and gently shut the door.

  “That’s really all it was!” she called out loudly, then she whirled around to appeal to Will. “Tell him that—” Her words cut off as she saw that Will had piled several pillows around his waist, as though trying to hide something. “Is that?”