I spent the rest of the day with them, just visiting. It was nice, to be able to just talk with people and enjoy their company without an emergency of some sort hanging over my head. Of course, that time couldn’t last. It never does.
Roughly eight o’clock that night, the mirror in my pocket started talking. Even through the material of my pants, I could hear the muttered, “Are you sure this thing is working?”
“Of course I’m sure!” a female voice responded. It sounded like Cora. “Just give him a second to find the mirror.”
Amused, I pulled the mirror out and lifted it to my face. “Hello?”
“Garth!” Cora sounded very relieved. “Where are you?”
“At Chatta’s house, why?” Little alarms were going off in the back of my head. This was obviously not a social call.
“We need you in Del’Hain. Now. Nolan and Trev’nor have gone missing.”
I blinked, mind stumbling at this information. “Gone missing? Cora, I just took Nolan to Guin a little over two days ago!”
“I know.”
“And he only met Trev’nor yesterday morning!” I continued plaintively. “Are you telling me that they’ve already gotten into mischief?”
“To sum it all up in a pretty package…yup.”
I gave a heart-felt groan. “Obviously I needed to assign a keeper… Wait, didn’t Chatta put a locator spell on Trev’nor?”
“Apparently that’s worn off by now. And he’s been so well behaved recently they didn’t think they needed to renew it. Besides, the entire Jaunten force keeps an eye on him.”
I bet Allan and Liah were seriously regretting that right now, since obviously over five hundred people couldn’t keep track of two boys. “Alright, any idea of what they’re up to or where they went?”
“Well, they were asking where they could find meurittas earlier. I’m not sure if that’s what they’re actually doing or not.”
“Meurittas?” I repeated blankly. “What would they want with meurittas?”
Chapter Fourteen: To Be a Mage
“Trev?”
Trev’nor looked up from the string in his hands, turning toward the door. Nolan hovered in the doorway, his lower lip caught between his teeth.
This looked serious. Trev’nor put the braid down completely. “Hey, Nolan. Whatcha need?”
Nolan ventured all the way inside, fetching up against the arm of a chair. “Mages have familiars, right?”
Trev’nor scratched the back of his head, turning that question over. “Garth does.” He wasn’t sure if there was a rule that said Mages had to have one. But Trev had met all the Mages in Hain, and they all pretty much agreed that if Garth thought it was a good idea, then they would do it too. “Why?”
Nolan scuffed a toe against the floor, eyes down. “Grandpa says that I can’t even visit until I’m a Mage.”
Trev’nor sympathized. He remembered all too well what it felt like to abruptly leave home, to be surrounded by strangers. He’d only known Nolan for a day, but he already considered him to be a good friend. It wasn’t difficult; Nolan was one of those people it was very easy to be friends with. Trev’nor hated to lose his friend—which would happen when Nolan went home—but he couldn’t leave that sad frown alone.
“Well, what if we both got familiars?”
“You can’t make a nreesce adopt you,” Nolan pointed out glumly. His shoulders had a definite slump to them.
And he would know. Trev’nor pondered for another moment. “What about a meuritta?”
Nolan froze. He obviously hadn’t considered that. “Meurittas are easy to catch, right?”
“That’s what Chatta told me.” Trev’nor tried to remember exactly what she had said. There was something in particular needed… “We just need bright string.”
Nolan straightened from his slump. “Where do we need to go?”
That stumped Trev’nor. “Dunno,” he admitted. “But I bet Cora does.” Trev discovered earlier that if it was animal-related, Cora knew it. She took her job as a Life Mage very seriously.
“Let’s go ask.” Nolan was nearly bouncing in place. “Where would we find her?”
“Probably at the Academy.” He might have suggested getting a meuritta just to make Nolan feel better, but now that the idea was out there…he liked it. Didi was a lot of fun. Having his own meuritta would be brilliant.
Caught up in Nolan’s wave of enthusiasm, Trev’nor jumped out of his seat and headed for the door. Nolan was on his heels.
~*~
Cora looked up from the textbook in her hands. She was still struggling to learn Hainish, and there wasn’t a day that went by when she didn’t consider having her brother turn her into a Jaunten. White hair seemed a small price to pay for instant fluency.
She blinked, shifting her mind to the present and the two boys in front of her. “Meurittas?”
“Right,” Trev’nor confirmed. “Where do they live?”
“All over, really.” She set the book aside completely. “I understand they tend to like wooded areas. The Midian Forest is chock full of them.”
“Is that far away?” Nolan inquired eagerly.
“About twenty miles, I think.” Cora wasn’t entirely too sure of that, as she hadn’t ventured out of Del’Hain very often.
They blinked, looking a little daunted.
“Why all the interest?”
“Just wonderin’!” Trev’nor replied hastily. “Thanks, Cora!” Grabbing Nolan’s arm, he took off at a run, dragging his friend with him.
Cora watched them go, suspicions growing. They were definitely up to something. Maybe she should warn their parents…
~*~
They retreated back to Trev’nor’s room, snitching a map from Alan’s study as they went. Nolan shut the door behind them as Trev’nor cleared a space on the floor amidst the toys so that he could spread the map out.
Nolan dropped down across Trev’nor, peering at the map intently. “What did she call that forest?”
“Midian,” Trev’nor answered absently. His eyes were scanning the map quickly. “There it is!” He pointed triumphantly to the narrow stretch of woods.
Nolan peered at it doubtfully. “I think that’s more than twenty miles.”
“Yeah,” Trev’nor agreed with a sigh. “I wish I could use that earth transport spell like Garth does. It’d be easy that way.”
Nolan nodded, agreeing, but it was clear that he was still thinking. “Trev, you’re a good rider, aren’t you?”
“Of course!” The benefit of living with a Tonkawacon tribe was being able to ride any horse.
“And they let you borrow horses from the stable, right?”
Trev’nor was beginning to see where he was going with this. “Yeah…you think we can sneak out?”
“You told me that you ride around the city all the time,” Nolan pointed out. “And you said there’s a pond you like to swim at just outside the city gates.”
One of the benefits of having Jaunten parents was that all of the Jaunten kept an eye on you. Trev’nor was allowed to go out into the city simply because his parents knew that the other Jaunten would keep an eye on him. It gave him a certain allowance of freedom—that ended as soon as he was outside of the city gates. Trev’nor’s head tilted as he thought about it. “So if we just pretend like we’re going swimming, we can get out without people stopping us?”
Nolan shrugged. “I think so.”
It really wasn’t a bad plan. “I think we can do it. All we have to do is follow the main road north until we hit the woods. We can’t get lost.”
Nolan’s head cocked slightly in puzzlement. “Which way is north?”
“All we have to do is go out the North Gate,” Trev’nor responded absently, still thinking. “Grab some ribbons or something. I’ll go by the kitchens and get some food.”
From his startled blink, Nolan hadn’t thought about food. “Good idea. Meet you at the stables.”
“Right.”
Nolan darted
out the door, intent on his search. Trev’nor had to crawl half under his bed to find a bag to put the food in. Roha had constantly told him that no matter where you were going, you always, always took food with you.
Slinging the bag over his shoulder, Trev’nor pelted out the door.
His adopted mother called after him as he headed for the front door. “Trev’nor, where are you going?”
With his hand on the door knob, he nearly vibrated with the need to be gone. “I’m going out with Nolan,” he answered. It was even the truth.
“Be back for dinner!” she ordered as he opened the door.
“I’ll try.” He wasn’t sure he could manage it, though. How long did it take to cover twenty miles?
If she said anything else, he didn’t hear it in the hallway. That was probably a good thing. She would probably start asking tricky questions—like where was he going?
After two years of living in the Palace, Trev’nor knew all the shortcuts. He crossed through the servant’s hallway, down a set of narrow stairs that ended in the kitchen. When he entered the huge room, no one even gave him a second glance. They were used to him popping in.
Trev’nor weaved and bobbed his way between people, counters, tables, pots, and trays of food. As he moved, he snatched what he wanted from the counter tops. Bread, cheese, apples, two flaky pastries—all of it made good traveling food, something else he had learned from his time with the Tonkawacon. He prudently snatched an empty bottle and filled it full of water before stuffing it in the bag as well.
Nolan was waiting for him in the stables, ribbons sticking out of his pocket. “Ready?”
“Yeah.” Trev’nor poked his head into the stable office, where Boden—a stocky man with peppered hair—sat at a desk. “Hey, Boden!”
“Hey, Trev,” Boden responded. “Need a horse saddled?”
“Please.”
Boden heaved his body out of the chair with a grunt. “Okay. Your timing is good, Sadie needs the exercise.”
Sadie was the usual horse they gave Trev’nor, as she was short enough for him to mount without help. Trev’nor liked the little mare, as she had a smooth gait and a nice personality.
The boys waited impatiently as Boden shuffled to the tack room and grabbed Sadie’s saddle and bridle. Trev’nor, in an effort to speed up the matter, led Sadie out of the stall. He had a little trouble hobbling her, as she kept heading for Nolan. Finally, frustrated with the mare, Trev’nor tugged Nolan around until he was at the mare’s nose. Sadie docilely allowed her feet to be hobbled as long as Nolan petted her.
As Boden put the saddle on, Trev’nor popped the bit into Sadie’s mouth and pulled the bridle into place. The mare allowed this, blinking sleepy brown eyes at him.
“There you go, boys.” Boden stepped back, giving Trev’nor room to mount, which he did easily. Nolan had to have a little help to scramble up behind his friend.
“Thanks, Boden.” Trev’nor urged Sadie into a walk.
“You boys be careful!” Boden called to them from the stable doorway. “And stay close! I don’t want your momma comin’ down on me.”
“We will!” Nolan assured him with a wave.
~*~
Twenty miles, Trev’nor decided, was a really long distance.
The day was nearly gone when they finally made it to the Miridian Forest. They’d stopped and eaten twice, depleting most of the food in the bag, which worried Trev’nor a little. But he’d think about that more once they’d gotten their meurittas.
“We’re finally here!” Nolan exclaimed. He let go of Trev’nor’s waist and slithered off the mare, bouncing on his feet a little from the drop, and then he started running for the forest. Trev’nor slid out of the saddle right after him, tossing the reins over the saddle horn. He wasn’t worried about the mare wandering off. As soon as he released her, she started trotting after Nolan.
Trev’nor was taller than Nolan, and so caught up to his friend easily. In fact, he was a little ahead of him by the time they actually entered the woods themselves. The setting sun shone through the thick canopy of leaves overhead, giving just enough light to see by. Worried about losing Nolan in the dense underbrush, Trev’nor turned to find him…and stopped dead.
Uh-oh.
Behind Nolan was not only the mare, but also rabbits, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, birds, meurittas, deer, possums, and even a small black bear.
“Nolan!” Trev’nor pointed at the rapidly increasing gathering of animals. “Behind you!”
Nolan stopped dead, twisting about to look behind him. As he did, all of the other animals screeched to a halt as well, stumbling over each other in their attempt to not knock over the young Life Mage. Nolan let out a wordless exclamation of surprise as he was abruptly swarmed on all sides. There were so many animals that Trev’nor couldn’t even see the other Mage.
“Trev, help!” he called out desperately.
Trev’nor would have loved to help if he could just figure out how. He wasn’t the Life Mage—he didn’t have any ability whatsoever to talk to animals. Still, he couldn’t just stand there and do nothing. Squaring his shoulders, he waded in, carefully shifting animals out of his way as he tried to get in closer. That worked until he got near the bear.
The bear gave him a glare. Obviously it didn’t want to move.
Trev’nor wasn’t about to argue the point. “Um, Nolan? I think you better start talking to them.”
“I am.” Nolan shot him a plaintive look.
Edging away from the bear, Trev’nor waited.
And waited.
Just how long did this animal-talking thing take…?
Some of the animals dispersed, reluctantly going back the way they had come. Trev’nor didn’t breathe easy until both the bear and the skunks had left the immediate area. “Good work, Nolan! What’cha say?”
“That I was going back to the city,” he responded with a shrug. “They don’t understand ‘city’ really that well, but then I said it meant being confined, and hunted, and they didn’t want that. So they went back home.”
And thank all magic for that.
“Hold on,” Nolan requested. He bent down and scooped a meuritta up in his arms. To Trev’nor eyes, this appeared to be a somewhat elderly meuritta, as the fur wasn’t as vibrantly colored as it should have been but more of an undiscerning grey. Nolan seemed to have some sort of conversation with the meuritta, nodding from time to time, and then brightening into a brilliant smile. The meuritta nodded back and leapt from Nolan’s arms, bounding away with a slightly stiff stride.
“Well?” Trev’nor prompted a little impatiently.
“That was the elder of the Meuritta Clan here in the woods,” Nolan explained with a pleased look. “I explained to him what we wanted, and he said that he knew the two perfect meurittas for us to claim as familiars. He’s gone to get them now.”
“Excellent!” Trev’nor threw a victorious fist up in the air.
It took only another minute or so before two younger meurittas bounded up to them. They both went to Nolan first, catching one of his hands in their paws. Trev’nor couldn’t understand a thing but they chattered at Nolan, and Nolan chattered back, so he assumed they were talking to each other. Then one of them dropped Nolan’s hand and darted over to Trev’nor, looking up at him with obvious delight and excitement.
“Um, so, you want to be my meuritta?” Trev’nor ventured.
“Di!” the Meuritta responded with a firm nod.
Trev’nor felt like his face would split if he smiled any wider. He ducked down, catching the meuritta as it jumped up into his arms. Trev’nor shared triumphant smiles with Nolan, who was also carrying his meuritta. They’d done it!
Trev’nor’s earth sense woke up and poked him. He twisted about, frowning as he realized what he was sensing. “Um, Nolan…”
“Yeah?”
“We might be in trouble.”
Nolan blinked at him, smile fading. “Why?”
“Cause Garth is coming.” Trev’no
r winced. If his parents had called Garth to come get them, then they were in so much trouble.
Nolan frowned and looked in the same direction he had. “Yeah, I can feel him. Um, do you think he’ll be mad?”
“Maybe.” Trev’nor had never seen Garth lose his patience with someone, only heard about it. They’d probably get a good lecture from Garth but nothing more. His real worry was about what was awaiting them at home.
Ah well. It was worth it.
Chapter Fifteen: Demands
It didn’t take long to find them, of course. Both of them were lit up like a beacon for me—it was easy to sense them once I was within range. I surfaced about five feet away, dodging tree roots as I came up. Considering what Cora said earlier, I wasn’t surprised to find them in a forest. A forest was a natural place to look for meurittas.
Trev’nor spotted me first and gave me a classically consternated, hand-caught-in-the-cookie-jar look. “Er, hi, Garth.”
“Trev’nor,” I returned the greeting with a bland smile. “Did it perhaps occur to you to tell anyone where you were going?”
“They wouldn’t let us come here,” he defended himself hastily. “And we needed meurittas.”
“We can’t be Mages without a familiar,” Nolan added with a stubborn look.
I was trying to figure out where they got this idea from but I honestly had no idea. I finally just gave up and asked. “Who told you that you had to have a familiar to be a Mage?”
They exchanged blank looks. “Don’t you?” Trev’nor asked hesitantly.
“No,” I assured him patiently. “There’s no rule saying you do. Mages generally do, just because it helps us to have one, but it’s not absolutely necessary.” It was rather a moot point now, as both boys had a meuritta in their arms. “But we can discuss that later. For now, let’s go home, all right? Both of your guardians are going mental trying to figure out where you two went.”
“We didn’t think it would take this long to get here,” Nolan said sheepishly.
Advent (Advent Mage Cycle) Page 19