A Sorcerer Imprisoned (Song of Sorcery Book 2)

by Guy Antibes

  Gil nodded. “He is, no doubt about that.”

  “We’ll let you go this time,” another boy said. He didn’t look as fierce after Gil confirmed Ricky’s prowess.

  Ricky had finished and said as he got up, “I’ll see you around.”

  As he walked back to his room, he shuddered. That could have gone much, much worse. Perhaps keeping a lid on his powers might not be the best course for surviving, he thought as he locked his door for the night.

  Ricky pulled the stolen sorcery book from its hiding place and sat on his bed. When he had entered the Home, he originally thought he’d have to endure torture at the hand of sadistic guards led by an even more malign warden. So far, most of his injuries had come from inmates with the assistance, he was sure, of Master Pisan.

  The warden seemed to be under siege, and he couldn’t ask for a more benign library guardian in Henni. His challenge from now on would be knowing how to act and react to even more secrets that he knew boiled and roiled beneath the surface of the Applia Juvenile Home.

  ~~~

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  ~

  W ITH HENNI STILL SICK, RICKY DIDN’T DARE pursue the mysterious door. He continued to read the oldest books in the library. He returned the sorcery book and began to write down notes, which he hid in the stacks until the temporary guard left his post. His note-taking expanded to the history books. He wished Saganet sat by his side as he learned a new version of Paranty’s history and even the countries surrounding his own.

  He met Kela at the dining hall door.

  “It’s locked,” Ricky said.

  “Always locked after one hour,” Kela said.

  “So this isn’t going to work. I suppose we will have to curtail our sessions until Henni returns.”

  “What is curtail?” Kela said.

  “End for a few days. The replacement guard won’t let us study in the library.”

  Kela nodded. “Why don’t we meet for lunch?”

  “Or dinner. Perhaps if we eat quickly, we can work until the cooks tell us to leave.”

  She brightened at the thought and grinned. “Dinner today?”

  “I’ll see you then.”

  Ricky would have to check out a book. Something thin and light. He returned to the library to find the guard reading something that made him giggle. The man’s face turned to anger when Ricky caught him.

  “What do you want?”

  “I want to check out a book. Maybe a storybook.”

  “You can’t have mine,” the guard said, slamming the volume shut.

  “How is Henni?”

  “Another day or two, I was told. I don’t know how he stands it down here,” the guard said, but Ricky sensed the guard didn’t mean it. The man sneered. “Find your book quickly and then get out of here.”

  Ricky nodded. Since he had rearranged the books, finding a fictional work was easy since they were all together. He found a slim novel suitable for Kela’s reading and took it to the front desk.

  The guard looked at the book and Ricky. “What?”

  “I want to check this one out.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Henni writes down the book title and when it was lent out. The form is in that folder.” Ricky pointed.

  “Oh. Fill it out yourself.”

  Ricky did that and had the guard initial the entry. He certainly didn’t need any more detention. Leaving the guard was a relief. He scampered up the stairs and hid it in his secret place in the drawer before embarking on his chamberpot duty.

  The women weren’t at the cleaning station, but Ricky found what he needed and began his awful chore. Girls laughed at him on the fourth floor as he cleaned up their pots. He bore it as best he could and worked down to the first floor where his room was.

  When he closed the door to his room, Ricky took out his key and the master key to compare them. Ricky’s had a little extra tab that the master key didn’t. If he filed his key down, he might have a master. He didn’t know how he could grind down metal, but perhaps a master key to his building would be useful. He traced the master key on a scrap of paper in his hiding place and emptied his chamberpot and finally finished his awful task.

  This time he didn’t spill anything, so he only had to wash his hands. He wheeled the cart into the cleaning station. One of the women chomped on a stub of bread when he walked in.

  “You do too good of a job,” the woman said. “Take your time.”

  “I’ll share one of my secrets with you.”

  She cackled. “A secret to fast chamber potting?”

  “Take the cart all the way up to the top floor when it’s empty. It takes much less time going down when it is full than going up and down.”

  “Oh.” She laughed again. “You are a smart one. I won’t tell Fanna. Lugging the cart up the stairs is the worst!” She slapped her thigh. “Good work. Take some clean sheets as a reward. Leave the old ones piled up next to the door.” She took another big bite of her bread and shooed Ricky out of the room.

  Ricky bowed to her and left to wash up. He retrieved the novel and read through it while he waited for dinner to begin. The story was about two performance sorcerers and the rivalry they had. He thought it exciting.

  Kela stood next to him as they waited for the dining hall doors to open. They took their food and quickly finished off the stew at a small table. Ricky pulled the book out. He had to read upside down at the table.

  She began to read. “It’s a storybook!”

  “About performance sorcerers,” Ricky said. “My parents were performance sorcerers, too, you know.”

  Kela looked shocked. “They were?” She put her hand to her mouth, and her face turned red. “I go.”

  He watched her rush out of the dining hall. What had he done, he thought? He ran through the short session in his mind. Could her parents have been performance sorcerers, like his? If that were the case, chances were very good that she was a sorcerer, too. Did she know any songs?

  ~

  Two days later, Henni sat at the library desk. He looked a little pale but greeted Ricky with enthusiasm.

  “You confused Taribaldi.” Henni laughed and shook his head. “I still can’t figure out why he volunteered to take my place while I was sick. He doesn’t understand you as I do.”

  Ricky wondered how much Henni really understood. They hadn’t had any long conversations.

  “What was he confused about?”

  Henni narrowed his eyes in thought. “You don’t fit in. You like hanging around the library, and you were helping the girl read rather than talk her into doing something else. Personally, I’ve enjoyed having you around. Most of the male inmates are surly. I take that back. Most all the inmates are surly.”

  “Does he think I have some angle?”

  “Of course you do,” Henni said. “I don’t know what, but you aren’t in here just trying to serve out your time. It’s not any of my business to know just what, but I know you’re not a bad person.”

  Not a bad person? Ricky thought. He agreed with Henni’s conclusions as far as they went. Ricky had intended to do nothing and stay out of the way during his time at the Home. It seemed that would not be his destiny. The ‘what’ that Henni alluded to was a mystery to Ricky, as well.

  “What was your illness?” Ricky said. “It looks like you’re not quite over it.”

  “Bad fish, I reckon,” Henni said. “I wasn’t the only guard affected. I’m on the way up, though, thanks for asking.”

  “I’ve picked up a detention while you were gone. I get to clean the chamber pots for Master Pisan’s building. It is glorious work.”

  Henni laughed. “Your building would be less glorious if you didn’t do it. How much longer?”

  “A few days,” Ricky said. “Then I can spend more time in the library.”

  “What about your pupil?” Henni asked.

  Ricky frowned. “I might have scared her off. I had her reading a book that I took out of the library, but the subject m
atter seemed to make Kela upset.”

  Henni pulled out his check-out sheet and showed the blank page to Ricky. “It doesn’t show here.”

  “The guard must have destroyed the page,” Ricky said.

  “Do you remember the title and when you took it out?”

  Ricky nodded and provided the information. Henni duplicated the original entry.

  “Where is the book?”

  “In my room.”

  Henni nodded. “If I know Taribaldi, I’d say the warden will soon be asking you in for a chat. Don’t worry about it.”

  Ricky thanked the guard and perused the books until the gardening session was about to start.

  “There isn’t a catalog of the books, is there?” Ricky said.

  Henni shook his head. “If there is, I’ve never seen it.” He blinked as a thought came to him. “Room for mischief, eh?”

  “Anything can happen,” Ricky said.

  He shook his head and headed out. After gardening, he rushed over to Master Risticca’s history class. He was just about through with his lectures on economics. Ricky had enjoyed the subject, but it was a challenge to filter out all of Master Risticca’s biases.

  A guard slipped in towards the end and handed Risticca a message.

  “I suppose that’s it for now. We’ll have an exam tomorrow and start another unit on trade.”

  Ricky wondered how rigorous an examination would be. He had no idea if Risticca even gave grades other than for attendance. He rose along with the others in the class.

  “Valian, I’ll have a word.”

  Ricky turned around. “Yes, Master Risticca.”

  The man grunted in response. “You are to see the warden right now.”

  “Do you know the reason?”

  The teacher gave Ricky the note that had the simple instruction Risticca had given.

  Ricky wondered why he had to see the warden. Could it be Taribaldi’s tattling? He nodded at the thought. He couldn’t think of anything else.

  The warden’s secretary had Ricky wait. “There is another coming. You can go in when he arrives.”

  Ricky sat on an old chair, watching the secretary try to stay busy while he waited. In a few moments, a burly, heavily-bearded man dressed in a rumpled fur cloak walked up to the secretary. He turned to give Ricky an appraising glance.

  “You can go in, Master Mattia.”

  The man jerked his head in a tiny bow and knocked once before entering the warden’s office. He shut the door behind him.

  “Master Mattia?” Ricky said to the secretary.

  “You’ll meet him soon enough,” the woman said without even looking up from her work.

  The door opened. “Inside, young Valian,” the warden said.

  Mattia sat in the warden’s spot, which Ricky thought quite odd. Warden Sarini leaned against the wall with folded arms, looking displeased.

  “This is Master Mattia; he’ll be starting a science class in a few weeks. Only a few will attend, and he wants to interview his prospective students. You are the last to be talked to.” She flicked her eyes at the teacher. “I’ll leave you to it.” She left the office.

  Mattia shrugged off his cloak and cracked his knuckles. Ricky put it all down to intimidation. He sat quietly with his hands in his lap.

  “You are Hendrico Valian.” The man said it in a statement, not a question. “You have admirable qualities for one as young as you are. I am starting a class where I will be teaching dangerous concepts. You are a sorcerer, and I think having a sorcerer in the class will add to the excitement.”

  Ricky nodded.

  Mattia cleared his throat uncomfortably. Score one for Ricky.

  “Do you want to attend?”

  “What hour is it?” Ricky asked.

  “Fourth, before lunch. We have a classroom next to the dining hall.”

  Ricky had no reason to say no, other than the bad feeling he had about Master Mattia. He was nice enough, but he couldn’t get a good feeling for the man. Ricky considered him potentially abrasive and obdurate. Just his posture shouted out that Mattia was very confident. That might mean he might not listen. Mattia reminded Ricky of Baron Mansali, so he didn’t know if he could trust him.

  If he rejected the man’s offer, he might expect some retribution that he didn’t need at the Home. “I have no reason to reject your offer. I spend fourth hours in the library.”

  “You are a bookworm?”

  Ricky shrugged and chanced a smile. “I admit I like it there. I don’t have any friends among the inmates, and I don’t have to worry about being attacked in a place where no one else goes.”

  “That sounds like an effective strategy.”

  Mattia made it sound like a military campaign. Ricky looked at it as self-defense.

  “It has been,” Ricky said. “But I go there first-hour, as well. I have never taken any science classes other than geology.”

  “We won’t be learning about geology, I promise you.” Mattia stood up, making Ricky scramble to his feet. “Good. First day, a week. I’ll have your building supervisor tack the room number on your door. I will see you then.”

  Ricky watched Mattia leave. He was about to follow, but the warden walked into the room just as his new science teacher left.

  “Sit.”

  Ricky sat.

  She took her chair and steepled her fingers, with her elbows resting on the arms of the chair. “Imposing man, don’t you think?”

  “He has a deep well of confidence,” Ricky said, remembering the phrase from a Doubli Academy history class.

  Warden Sarini’s lips curled in a near-smile. “You accepted his offer?”

  Ricky nodded. “Yes, warden, I did. I don’t have any class that hour. I think I would have offended him if I had rejected him.”

  “Astute. The ’science’ class isn’t about true science, but military science. Strategy and tactics. I wanted you to know.”

  “You are training officers for the Royal army from inmates?”

  “I don’t know anything,” Warden Sarini said, implying that she probably knew enough to make her uncomfortable. “Keep your eyes open and your hearing alert. Events are happening at the Home that I have no control over. Be careful.”

  “I will,” Ricky said.

  “I won’t say any more about it. You are out of detention as of this minute. Expect your afternoons to be taken sometime after you start Master Mattia’s course.” She picked up a sheet of paper. “Guard Taribaldi said you stole a book from the library earlier this week.”

  “I didn’t steal anything, Warden. He had me write the entry in the checkout ledger. Guard Henni duplicated it. He suspected with the page torn out that Guard Taribaldi would try to accuse me of something. Guard Henni—”

  “Henni isn’t the library’s guard last name,” the warden said.

  Ricky felt his face heat up. “He said his first name is Hendrico, like mine and that he goes by the name of Henni. He never told me his last name.”

  “So you’ve made another friend?”

  Another? Ricky thought. “I guess so.”

  She waved her hand casually. “I don’t have a problem with your library activities. I couldn’t be down there all the time like the guard. ‘Henni’ likes it?”

  “It seems so, Warden Sarini.”

  “Why would Guard Taribaldi take the opportunity to get you in trouble?”

  “I killed a powerful man in Tossa. His influence extends into the Juvenile Home. I expect worse to come,” Ricky said.

  “Pisan and Taribaldi both, probably. Franken Pestella, definitely,” the warden said.

  How did she know? Why would she even care?

  “They can only do so much under my watch. I can’t help you overtly, but be patient, and you’ll be out of the Home before you know it.”

  Ricky doubted that, but he nodded. “I thank you for any help you can give me, Warden Sarini.”

  “Do you know a woman called Effilia Asucco?”

  “Effie?”
>
  The warden nodded, giving him another half smile. “She served with me as a royal bodyguard. I count her as a friend. She wrote an introduction for you that I received yesterday. The post was exceptionally slow.” Warden Sarini said.

  Ricky could tell she meant that someone had read the letter on its way to the Home and that was the cause of the delay.

  “Her friends can be my friends, but I don’t provide favors.”

  “I understand, Warden Sarini.”

  “Good,” she stood up and tugged on her tunic. “Now get out, Valian.”

  ~

  Ricky unlocked the door to his room, there not being time to go to the library. Someone had turned over his room again. He looked at the drawer with the false bottom and checked for the book. It remained. He slipped it out and put it in the top drawer.

  Pisan had a key. Ricky didn’t worry about the state of his room. It would give him something to do in the evening. At least no one soiled his bedding, this time.

  Ricky sat down and tried to link with Loria. He wanted to know about Master Mattia, but, to his surprise, it didn’t work. He tried again. Nothing.

  What was wrong? He thought. A cold feeling hit him. He didn’t know what happened since he last power-linked with Loria. He’d try again.

  Ricky cleaned up his room and repaired what he could until he heard a knock at the door. It opened, and Pisan poked his head through.

  “Mice?” the building supervisor said.

  “Another burglar,” Ricky said.

  “Burglar? What is gone?” Pisan said it as if he already knew the answer.

  “Nothing,” Ricky said. “I just came from the warden. She terminated my detention. I only had two more days left.”

  The man frowned. “I don’t like her spoiling my fun.” He grinned at Ricky, but there was no good humor in that face. “I’ll have another chance, soon enough,” he said, looking around the room.

  Ricky knew Pisan only sought to make mischief. He would have liked to threaten Pisan back, but he didn’t dare. He sensed that he had entered a critical period at the Home.

  “I checked a book from the library. Henni, the guard, documented that I removed it from the library. Here it is. I had it with me,” Ricky said, pulling the book from the top drawer, lying. Telling the truth would get his furniture destroyed.