by Guy Antibes
Saganet faced off against the two remaining foes. One pulled out a long knife and the other a thin weighted cudgel.
“Stop if you value your lives,” Ricky said, straightening up. All three looked at Ricky as he began to hum. He found the resonance he needed quickly and extended his finger. A long flame licked out.
Ricky advanced on the two thugs as Saganet backed away.
“Be careful what you do, lad,” Saganet said. He looked at the thugs. “If you don’t want to be burned alive, I suggest you leave.”
Ricky opened his mouth and let his voice carry the resonance. He could feel power swell within his body. He used his will to push the flame an arm’s length out as he approached the men. They backed up, but not until Ricky lit one of the men’s coats aflame. The other man batted the fire out and pulled his friend back.
Still filled with power, even though his song had stopped, Ricky narrowed his eyes. “We are leaving. If you follow, each one of you will be incinerated.”
He backed up, the flame still pointed in their direction. He tugged on Saganet’s coat. “Now we can leave,” Ricky said.
They walked backward for half a block and then hurried to the sanctuary of the academy.
Saganet had to help Ricky walk once he secured the gate.
“I didn’t know you had that in you, my boy,” Saganet said as he helped Ricky to a kitchen chair. “How did you learn to do that?”
“Professor Calasay showed us how to create a flame. I just made a large one.” He put his head on the table. “I think my finger is burned,” Ricky said as his eyes began to close.
~~~
Chapter Eleven
~
R icky woke, exhausted, in his own bed. Saganet must have put him there the previous night. His right index finger was covered with a gauze bandage. He put his arm over his eyes and ran through the fight. They were lucky, he thought. None of them threw a knife, and the thief who caught him from behind might not have been off-balance. He wondered how Saganet would have rated the attack.
His guardian had already left to prepare for his early-morning class, so he’d find out in the afternoon. Ricky didn’t have much time before his sorcery class. He didn’t feel like cooking a meal with a bandaged finger, so he ate breakfast in the commissary.
Frank approached the table where Ricky sat alone. “I’m surprised to see you here. Can I join you? What happened to your finger?”
“A little injury practicing sorcery. I didn’t want to fix my own breakfast.”
Frank had eaten, but he set down his books. “I liked our conditioning session yesterday.”
“Professor Crabacci and I attended a sorcery performance last night.”
Frank’s eyes lit up. “You saw pantomimes?”
Ricky nodded. “We did, both sorcerous and mundane. I have a better idea of what you are training for.”
His friend smiled, but Ricky sensed a reticence.
“Is something wrong?”
Frank shook his head. “No. It’s just that with your hurt finger, we won’t be able to practice this afternoon.”
Ricky smiled. “I can handle anything if we just slow things down a bit.”
“Good. I’ve got to do something before our first class. I’ll see you there.”
Ricky looked at his finger. It felt fine, so he unwrapped the gauze bandage. The tip of his finger looked a little blackened, but Ricky couldn’t feel a blister, just soreness. He should be ready for his session with Frank in the gymnasium.
Ricky’s day turned out to be normal until the end of his sorcery class.
“Hendrico Valian. Please stay after class,” Professor Calasay said after dismissing the rest of the students.
“Do you want me to stay?” Loria said after most of the students left.
“No. I have something private to discuss with Master Valian.”
Ricky waited for the last student to leave before descending the stairs to the lecture well.
“Let me see your finger,” Professor Calasay said.
Ricky showed her his left hand.
“The other one.”
He lifted his right index finger.
“Not bad. You have an instinct for producing magic, but none at all about practicing consequences.”
“I assume you’ve talked to my guardian?”
Professor Calasay snorted. “Indeed I have. You saved my friend’s life and maybe your own last night.”
“I wouldn’t have if they threw a knife,” Ricky said.
She laughed. “That’s what Saganet said. I’m impressed you picked up on that so quickly. Still, I want a short demonstration. I’m going to teach you something that I never do to first years.”
Ricky poked out his finger and opened his mouth. Once he achieved the resonance he sought, he felt the power fill his body. He pointed and forced his will on his power. A three-foot-long stream of fire exited his finger four or five seconds.
“Impressive. You just extended what you showed me yesterday after class.”
Ricky nodded.
“That is the control that I talk about in the class. Pick up that rod.”
Ricky did as he was asked. He lifted the thin hardwood object.
“That is a wand, and it’s used to keep your finger intact. I am going to teach you the basic principles of using the device. Picture the flow of your power going through the wand and out the tip. You can actually use anything to extend your reach, but after a bit, it will begin to burn as well. Wands are magically hardened to resist heat and can be safely used continuously for a few minutes.”
“Do performing magicians use these?”
Professor Calasay nodded. “Always, and you saw the sparks flying from the end of the swords? It’s the same technique.”
Ricky looked at the rod in his hand. “A wand.” He hadn’t heard the term before, but few people in Shantyboat Town were magical.
He hummed and found a resonance that filled him with power. He willed his power to flow up the wand and out the tip. He could feel it took more power than his finger, but he didn’t feel the heat, either.
“It works.”
Professor Calasay sat down. “You are a prodigy. I thought we’d have to spend a few sessions for you to accomplish what you did today.” She looked deeply into his eyes. “How do you feel?”
“It takes more power,” Ricky said. “Using my finger is easier.”
“Take the wand and practice. Light is not as taxing as fire, but only light and fire. Other spells can be dangerous.”
Ricky had to believe her. His magic had sapped him of energy. “Does the drain get any better?”
She smiled at him and nodded. “You only get more powerful until you reach your full maturity. Sorcerers lose their power as they age, but don’t worry about that. A seventy-year-old sorcerer would still have enough power to take care of those thugs in a few moments.”
“Why aren’t there any constable-sorcerers?”
“Ask Saganet about the Compact. You’ve had enough for today. Dismissed.”
~
Frank seemed thrilled to do more sparring in the pantomime style. Ricky remembered being accosted by the thugs the night before and didn’t share the same enthusiasm. He’d rather learn how to defend himself. He feared he wouldn’t like learning about the mysterious ‘Compact’ that Professor Calasay mentioned.
Saganet had ended up with a puffy eye from the previous night’s activities, but his older injuries didn’t seem to bother him except the limp remained. “We’ll be working on a routine that I’d like you two to master enough that you can perform it quickly.” Saganet looked over at Frank, warming up. “Don’t worry about your conditioning. You’ll probably sweat more from working on the pantomime than you would sparring with Frank. Did Dari give you a talking to?”
Ricky nodded. “She gave me a wand to practice with. I have to ask you about something she said.”
Frank came over, curtailing the conversation. Saganet was ready with a routine for them
to work on. “I’ll want you both to complete this flawlessly and with speed.”
Ricky nodded, but Frank grinned. “I won’t disappoint you, Professor Crabacci,” Frank said.
The exercise was a bit ragged because of all the repositioning Saganet had to do. Finally, he called an end to the practice by giving Ricky a broom. “We’ll talk after you sweep.”
With all the corrections Saganet had made to their first walkthrough of the routine, Ricky didn’t feel he had exercised enough, so he made short, energetic work sweeping up the gymnasium.
He walked over to Saganet, who was nearly finished inspecting the practice weapons.
“Professor Calasay wanted me to ask you about the Compact.”
Saganet lifted up his head. “Yes. You violated it last night.”
“How did I when I don’t know what it is?”
“Sorcerers are not to use their powers to fight.”
“Even in wars?”
“Only for the King of Paranty,” Saganet said. “That’s why there are no sorcerer soldiers or sorcerer constables in Tossa. Sorcerers may use magic fighting for the King only.”
“I never agreed to such a thing,” Ricky said, surprised at the prohibition. “Will I be taken away for what I did last night?”
“Those thugs won’t report you for defending yourself against them, but if they were regular citizens, they might. Sorcerers have a distinct advantage over us mundanes. Many people fear what might happen if sorcerers were free to use their powers in actual fights.”
“But what about the pantomime swordplay?”
“Entertainment,” Saganet said.
Ricky furrowed his brow. “So if I am to defend myself, I need to learn how to use weapons.”
Saganet nodded his head. “You do indeed, and that is why we have a weapons program at the academy. Many of my students are sorcerers.”
“What about the women? Can’t they use their sorcery to defend their honor?”
“They learn a few things from my daughter at another hall. It’s not the gymnasium, but a room more suited for what weapons a woman might be able to carry. Their training doesn’t take as long and is not based on conditioning. It’s a shame, really. There are enough women who would like to fight with real weapons, but the academy has its traditions.”
“I didn’t know that.”
Saganet clapped Ricky on the shoulder. “There is quite a bit you don’t know, but you’ll learn it all before you leave the academy.”
“Can I read about the Compact?”
“You can. I have a copy at the cottage. Read it tonight. I don’t think you’ll like it.”
Ricky snorted. “I already know that.”
“Don’t be too disappointed. There are some ways to get around it. You need to learn a bit more about sorcery first.”
“Deception? The academy teaches that?”
“Not officially,” Saganet said, “and not to everybody.”
~
“Here it is,” Saganet said, putting a thick tome in front of Ricky after dinner.
“You’ll have to help me with some of the words,” Ricky said. “These are the Codes of Paranty as approved by the Council of Notables.”
Saganet nodded. “It is up-to-date, as of last year. The first Council of Notables codified the Royal laws, and since then there has been a new book every year. The academy Library has the entire set, two-hundred and twenty-seven years’ worth. Most of the Codes are the same year-to-year.”
“Where is the part about the Compact?”
“Read the Table of Contents in the front. The Compact was made when the citizens established the Council. The King at the time used sorcerers to impose his will. Many sorcerers died in the clash between the King and the people.”
“I don’t remember a civil war.”
“It wasn’t an armed uprising, if that’s what you mean,” Saganet said. “No one wanted to depose the King, just change his behavior. The fighting was limited but effective in persuading the King to change his ways.”
“And the current King now has control over the Council?”
Saganet’s face turned serious as he nodded. “The next Code may be significantly different. Perhaps the Compact will be rescinded.”
Ricky turned to the book and read. Saganet interpreted some words, but it basically said the same thing Saganet did. Sorcerers were prohibited from participating in government, the army, and the constabulary. They could advise for fixed time frames not exceeding six months in a year. There were other provisions that didn’t make sense.
“I thought a compact was an agreement of some kind,” Ricky said. “Who agreed to be bound by this on the sorcerer side?”
“No one. It was unilaterally imposed on all sorcerers. Advising as the Compact talks about only relates to six-month service periods in the King’s army and then only to fight foreigners.”
“So all I have to look forward to is being an entertainer? It’s clear that I’m a sorcerer.”
“You can teach. Sorcerers participate in any number of enterprises, using their talent, but not the governing of Paranty.”
Ricky closed the book slowly. He put his hand on top of the cover and sighed. “At least I won’t be stuck in Shantyboat Town.”
Saganet gave Ricky a sad smile. “No, you won’t. Now, do you see why I want you to learn to fight with weapons? Many prominent magicians use bodyguards, but sometimes that isn’t enough.” He looked at Ricky like he had more to say, but Saganet went silent.
“I suppose a certain amount of cheating goes on. I can’t see any law that is strictly adhered to in Tossa in my experience.”
That brought a little light into Saganet’s eyes. “Well-spoken. I even teach some tricks along with our Sorcerer professors that push the Compact.”
“Do I have to register as a sorcerer?”
“Upon maturity. We do it here at the academy when our student-sorcerers reach twenty years of age.”
Ricky had to think for a bit. “So if I’m underage and violate the Compact?”
“The Juvenile Home in Applia is a possible punishment.”
Ricky shook his head in disgust. “If I use my power in self-defense, it’s no different from stealing a valuable piece of property. Where is the justice in that?”
“The citizens of Tossa don’t have to worry about you waking them up in the middle of the night to steal all that they have using your power as a threat.”
“You believe that?” Ricky said.
“Of course not. The Council didn’t want the King to accumulate full-time sorcerers and use them to regain his full powers.”
“So he may have found another way to take over the Council.”
“It would seem, although I haven’t found evidence of that happening yet,” Saganet said, “despite the message that you read.”
Ricky didn’t like to have to suppress his newly found abilities, but at least now he knew. Perhaps he could talk to Loria about it. He wondered if she came from a family of sorcerers. Professor Calasay said many sorcery students did.
~
“Can we talk after class? Maybe we could have a snack at the commissary,” Ricky said to Loria Mansali before Professor Calasay arrived.
“You are asking me out on a date?” Loria looked shocked.
Ricky shook his head. “It’s nothing like that.”
“It isn’t?” Loria looked a bit disappointed.
“I want to talk to another sorcerer about the Compact. I just learned about it, and you seem to know everything, so I wanted your perspective.”
She looked sideways at Ricky. “I will if you tell me why Professor Calasay kept you after class yesterday.”
Ricky smiled. “It’s a deal. We’ll have to find a private table to talk, though.”
“I’ll grab one, and you can find me.”
Ricky nodded his head as the Professor walked through the faculty door at the bottom of the lecture well.
“I’m here to announce the results of testing.” She p
ulled a bundle of envelopes from her valise and gave them to three students at the bottom to distribute to each of the three sections.
Loria and Ricky opened their’s last to the tune of various reactions to the tests.
“What is this?” Ricky asked Loria.
“I have the same thing. We have to meet an hour before other classes each morning for First Year Sorcery Advanced.”
“We’re kicked out of this class?”
“You’re auditing. I suppose you could stay, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Let’s face it. We are both bored by the slow pace,” Loria said.
Ricky wondered how she knew. Perhaps this was a reward for his test. It certainly confirmed that Professor Calasay didn’t hold his fight against him.
The class turned towards the professor as she tapped her stick on the desk. When Ricky looked at it, he realized that her pointer could be used as a long wand.
“Now that you have settled down, I want to make clear that any of you who failed their test is not dismissed from the class. For some, it takes a few more years for your talent to manifest. It is different for many people. There is a burden that comes from being a sorcerer, and for some of you that burden won’t be yours to carry.”
Professor Calasay looked up at Loria and Ricky. “There are a few students who showed a surprising amount of talent. They will be placed in an advanced class. It’s not every year that we have students with such outstanding sorcerer potential. You will know who they are by the fact they won’t be meeting with you tomorrow. I’m dismissing the class early today.”
Ricky noticed Victor Taranta look up at them. Victor would certainly know Loria and he would be gone tomorrow.
The rest of the class seemed to slither by. Loria patted him on the shoulder.
“See you in the commissary,” she said.
~
Nerves brought out the sweat on Ricky’s palms. What if Loria misinterpreted his invitation? He saw her at a corner table in the service section where students had to pay to be served. No one sat near. He waved and made his way over.
“Don’t worry, I’m paying,” Loria said. “Fewer students.” She gave him a quick, confident smile.
Ricky sat down. Loria leaned forward. “So what did Professor Calasay tell you?”