The Formerly Dark Mage

by D. L. Harrison

  Hollis being a wise gentle old man pulled me into a hug and encouraged me to cry on his shoulder. I was both comforted and mortified, but I gave in. I laughed through my tears when I wondered if he would think me weak… I wasn’t sure if I was or not…

  Chapter 6

  I felt both better and quite embarrassed, I decided focusing on magic would help. I could explore another time. I made my way back to the library and examined the titles. I pulled down one that had the basic glyph spells of light magic, curious to see what wasn’t taught in Zual. Not to mention I loved learning about magic, I had a thirst for knowledge that often had me punished in Zual. I smiled, now it would be encouraged.

  There were quite a few I didn’t know. Light, detect poison, cure poison, cure disease, the truth spell, chameleon which was like invisibility in dark magic, protection wards for buildings, walls, and rooms. Dispel magic, which was a common spell enchanted on knight blades that I knew about, but was never taught. I knew that list was just the tip of the iceberg.

  I felt almost overwhelmed as I looked back at the books, there was so much to learn, and none of it was dark magic. I probably knew most of the neutral magic, but I was sure there were advanced techniques and spells to learn.

  It would take me a long time to catch up… I smiled.

  There was a lot of basic light magic, but I knew I could learn all the basic spell glyphs in weeks, if not faster. It was the advanced spells and rituals that would take so much time. I decided the best way to go about things would be to use the hidden magic glyph with all my spells outside of battle. At least for now, until it was second nature and I held six thoughts as easily as I held three.

  Ironically people in Zual never used poison as a weapon, just greater power to kill their enemies. It was more brutal and straightforward. Knowing that this kingdom must have its share of ambition and evil men, I studied and practiced both detect and cure poison in conjunction with hidden magic. It took a lot of concentration, I couldn’t have focused on anything else while I was doing it. I knew that would change though if I stuck to it.

  That’s why I jumped in surprise when I heard Hollis clear his throat behind me. I turned and smiled, “Sorry, I was practicing and it’s still hard if I don’t block everything else out around me. Dinner time?”

  I absentmindedly cast refresh, clean and other spells so I would be presentable. Then made a face realizing I had already strayed from my plan. It was just automatic, an easy habit. I had to force myself to remember to cast hidden magic with everything so I could improve.

  Hollis nodded, “Time for dinner, there will be a lot of people there. And they will probably all be staring at you off and on. That should wear a bit in the coming weeks though.”

  I lifted an eyebrow in question.

  Hollis shrugged, “New power in the center of Lethia, everyone will be evaluating you, trying to figure out if you’re a danger to their schemes, or if they can use you as part of them.” he snorted, “If you want, just ignore it, palace politics can be murky at times. Once they figure out you are actually here to learn things will die down.”

  I nodded feeling unsure, Lethia was weird. In Zual they would just fight and whoever was alive at the end would be in charge, but then, maybe Lethia’s way was better…

  Hollis grinned, “Of course, they all won’t be staring at you for political reasons, I imagine a lot of unwed ladies will be annoyed.”

  He winked at me and I blushed. I knew I was attractive. Back in Zual, before I took first position in the apprentices, I had a lot of unwanted attention that way.

  He shrugged, “Wouldn’t have mentioned it, but I know it’s a whole new world out there for you. You’ll deal with it better now that you understand. It is foolishness in my opinion but I am a blunt old man without time for games anymore.”

  We walked through the halls and I was feeling fairly confident. Yes, it was outside what I knew but I would take catty comments or looks over a duel any day. We walked into the hall which was partially filled and took our seats. Hollis and I as court mages apparently bracketed the Royal family, who were not here yet. I imagine they will come in last. I smiled, at least I would have Maria as a friend, although that could gain me some enemies as well.

  The eyes on me made me uncomfortable but I ignored it, or at least, tried to. When all the seats were accounted for the Royal family was announced and everyone stood. Tristan, Emory and Maria came out and we all sat as the king did. I wondered for a moment what happened to Maria’s mother or why the king did not have a wife, I wasn’t about to ask, not here anyway, so shrugged it off.

  I briefly scanned the table and as expected I was still being stared at. I reevaluated the idea that a duel would be worse, I felt like a bug held down by tweezers while some twisted kid examined it. The servants brought out the first course, which was soup. I quickly casted detect poison with hidden magic. I didn’t find anything, but I figured it was good practice as well as prudent, if a little paranoid.

  The king led the conversation and I followed as best I could fascinated. I was way out of my depth so just stayed silent throughout the meal, checking each course for poison as it was delivered. By the last course I was half seriously reevaluating if knowledge was really worth all this, but then Maria turned to me and said, “Let’s get out of here, I’ll show you my rooms.”

  I nodded in agreement as I felt death glares hit the back of my head. I imagine they weren’t very happy that I already had the ear of the princess on my first day in the palace. They would all probably die of shock if they knew all I wanted from her was friendship.

  I whispered once we reach the royal halls, “That was some culture shock for me.”

  She laughed and said, “Yeah, the scheming between the lesser lords and ladies gets tiring, but it is a barometer on how well the kingdom is doing. If they start working together, that’s when I will worry. Since they’re not, that means we haven’t done anything to annoy people too much.”

  I thought my room and having a wing to learn and practice magic was great. But it paled to the suite of rooms the princess had, which of course was how it should be. She led me on a little tour of her rooms and the royal gardens while we talked. She unashamedly filled me in on all the current schemes of the minor nobles, what men were rakes and should be avoided, and how to avoid getting drawn into their schemes.

  Maria said, “Just act stupid, or natter about the cool new spell you learned today. You are gorgeous Silvia, if you didn’t know, you can definitely get away with acting a little empty headed. Not stupid of course, you’re a mage, but maybe a little flighty. Unless of course you want to join the game?”

  She laughed when I made a disgusted face and continued, “I thought not, I choose good friends. You scared the crap out of me at first, not anymore,” she made a face, “You have no idea how hard it is to find someone who doesn’t just want to get something from you… or… maybe you do.”

  I learned a lot as we talked all evening. I learned her true age, twenty which surprised me a bit. I was just twenty five but I did think she was closer to my age than that. I did learn her mother died when she was young, and the king lost both his wife and child in birth. She did not have an easy life. Maybe not as hard as mine, but being a princess was not easy at all.

  I was also told how it was like to grow up in a bubble, where almost everyone was out to use you. I reciprocated by sharing what my childhood was like. I did leave out some things, the darkest and most painful. She was horrified enough by what I had told her already.

  It was late by the time I returned to my rooms. I practiced a bit more, but I knew any distraction would have caused a spell misfire when doing two at once. I finally went to sleep, a smile on my face.

  The next week I developed a routine. After breakfast I would spend the entire morning memorizing new spells, my goal was eight per morning and I usually met it. Then I casted the new spells a few times each by themselves before going to get lunch.

  Although it wasn’t m
y favorite thing, protecting the royal family was part of my duties, so I tried to spend lunch with someone new each day. As they were curious about the new apprentice almost everyone was willing to accommodate. Then I would spend the afternoons practicing my new spells doubled up with hidden magic.

  Hollis would check up on me about an hour before dinner and test me. He wanted me to have double spells down before teaching me the next advanced technique he had in mind. I think he was trying to motivate me, and it worked, it was driving me crazy not knowing what he would teach me next and he damn well knew that. It drove me to practice hard.

  Dinner was always a chore, but at the end of the week I at least knew everyone, and the stares and glares were tapering off. After dinner each night I spent time with Maria, sometimes only a few minutes, but mostly we spent a couple of hours talking.

  The first real danger happened at the end of my first week during dinner. It was the fourth course, fish, when I almost negligently cast detect poison with hidden magic. My weeks of training had paid off and I was sure I would learn more by tomorrow. Then to my horror it finally registered that I was detecting poison, from Duke Emory’s fish.

  I froze in panic for a second, but then yelled, “Stop,” while looking at Emory only two seats away. His fork froze not two inches from his mouth and he looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

  I muttered, “Poisoned,” while glaring up at the now panicked server. I cast an air spell to hold his arms and legs in place, then cast a truth spell. I almost smiled realizing I had used hidden magic with both spells, proud of myself for getting in the habit even during a stressful situation. But I pushed down the feeling, so not important right now.

  I demanded, “What do you know about this?”

  I blushed and glanced toward the king in apology for taking the lead past declaring the danger, but he didn’t look upset at all, or at least, not with me.

  He spilled his guts, figuratively, “I didn’t know if the food was poisoned or not, but I did notice the food taster I was working with in the kitchen for the Duke’s dishes was new. Which I thought odd, but when I asked him he just said that James was sick. I am sorry. I should have double checked with my superiors, I just… didn’t want to look foolish.” His face looked horribly guilty when he said that.

  The king nodded to two of the guards and ordered, “Get to the kitchen now and don’t let anyone leave.” Turning to me next he said, “Release him,” he looked at the server, “Go with the guards and Silvia, identify the new taster for them.”

  But, when we got to the kitchen, he was already gone. The guards took the server away, hoping to get a good description, but we were all pretty sure the guy would have been disguised. They had an artist do a sketch until the server was satisfied, then it was shown to all the guards. I felt ineffective and helpless, but had to let it go. The assassin wouldn’t be caught tonight.

  Then, I heard Emory’s voice behind me say, “Thank you,” and felt a surge of relief. Maybe the assassin got away, but thanks to me he failed. I turned and nodded my head, a small smile on my lips. I still felt uncomfortable with praise so I felt shy, but to ignore his thanks wouldn’t have felt right either.

  I spent only a short time with Maria that night, she was a mess and barely holding it together. With her mother dying young she was very close to her father. She was thankful to me and I just stayed until she ran out of steam and fell asleep a short time later.

  The next day, after lunch, Hollis came in a little early and watched me practice for a while before finally declaring, “Ok, I think you’re ready. You learned all the basic light spells in just a couple of weeks, would have taken anyone else much longer. Plus you’re getting very good at double casting.”

  He laughed when I grinned like a kid getting a present.

  Shaking his head he said, “Usually my apprentices try to avoid more work, most have a good enough attitude, you are, on the other hand, a joy to teach. Sit.”

  I sat, blushing; I didn’t think I’d ever take a good compliment well.

  He started, “As I told you, splitting your spells by casting two at a time makes them weaker, there are exceptions to that. For example, when you summon a fire elemental, you get one at your strength. Now what happens if you summon a fire and air elemental at the same time. Well, if they work separately you get two at half strength. However, if by intent, you have the air elemental support and boost the fire elemental, you wind up with a fire elemental about half again as powerful as you are.

  “Also, the reverse is true, you would have a stronger wind elemental with fire’s support. The only time this is not true is if you combine the wrong elementals, obviously fire and water, or air and earth would produce a weaker result if not destroy each other altogether.”

  He handed me a hand written book and continued, “Here are all the combinations I have worked out. This is not a library book, return it to me when you are done studying it. It should not be seen by the other apprentice, he is not ready for it.”

  I said in a quiet voice while cradling the book as if it were fragile as an egg, “Thank you Hollis.”

  I was overwhelmed again, I would think I’d be used to it by now. This wasn’t generic knowledge available off a shelf to anyone, this was the wisdom and knowledge, or at least some of it, of a master mage that appeared to me more powerful and learned than anyone I had previously met.

  He nodded once and left me to my thoughts. I opened the book and paging through to see what was there, it wasn’t limited to elemental spells. For instance if I combined a fire elemental into my physical protection spell it would counterattack at half my fire power, yet the overall spell would still protect me at my full power since the elemental was integral to the protection.

  I walked back to my room and decided to do my morning studying for the next couple of weeks in there; it would take at least that long to memorize all the combinations. I didn’t want to risk running into Zand with the book after Hollis had warned me against it. I hadn’t met him yet, but I knew he was already due back. I think it was probably paranoia on my part, but I put a strong ward on the chest in my room to protect the book when I was out.

  I also decided to spend today’s practice time studying the book, I’d practice the combinations I learned this afternoon and in the morning after lunch tomorrow.

  I met Zand two days later. I didn’t like him at all, I got an oily feeling from him. The way he looked at me was off, almost like the way the apprentices back in Zual looked at me before I put them in their place. A hungry look. None of this was apparent though, in his body language or in the way we talked to each other, it was all rather polite. I could just see it in his eyes.

  I shrugged it off though, not everyone gets along. As long as he didn’t try to claim my body we would get along just fine. I would never let that happen again. My practices went well, but were cut short on some days when Zand came around. I didn’t want him to see me practicing combinations, I assumed that would be as bad as sharing the book with him, so I got in some practice on all the light spells I knew but weren’t yet second nature to cast for me whenever he was around.

  This made him a little arrogant, thinking I was a pure beginner, instead of experienced and lacking in one area. I did not correct his assumption. I added the things I was learning into my own spell books, not that I would forget, but it would help me remember just writing it down. Plus who knows, someday I might have my own apprentice to share with someday.

  I started to take a few minutes out of my day to stop by the barrack’s infirmary. It seems that weapons practice and training was still dangerous enough to cause broken bones, sprains and even cuts. Healing was one of my very favorite things.

  The days turned into weeks and weeks into months. My friendship with Maria had grown and we were very close. Zand finally stopped popping in on me, convinced I was beneath his notice due to my acting. I had turned the book back over to Hollis long ago and practiced hours every day. I went through the advanced ritual boo
ks. As Hollis explained to me these were not things I would ever use day to day or in combat, but, if I ever needed a ritual I needed to know about them. So I studied.

  I also experimented, I figured out a few cool things, but not nearly as effective as what Hollis taught me. There had been no more attacks in the palace, but I still casted detect poison during every meal, every course, it had become a habit I intended to follow until the day I died. There was a lot of plotting going on behind the scenes, but I stayed out of it. I was close to Maria, her father, the king and Hollis. Everyone else was merely an acquaintance at best. At worst, they were to be avoided.

  I was in the library reading one morning about advanced theory on light magic. It was fascinating. It took hours to cast but would open a doorway to anywhere on the planet you were familiar with. I looked up when the door opened and smiled as Hollis… no, my master, walked in the door. I was proud of the thought, the meaning of that word had somehow changed drastically over the last fourteen months.

  Hollis sighed and said, “It’s time, I’m going to miss having you as an apprentice you know.”

  I totally panicked, the truth of the moment completely eluding me and said, “What? Why?!”

  Hollis grinned and said, “I’m glad you will miss me too, but it is time for your final lesson, the truth behind magic that only the masters know. Or at least, some of us.”

  I gaped at him like a village idiot and gasped, “Master?”

  Hollis snorted, “You are already better than most you know, do you not feel ready Silvia? I know most mages do not reach master until their mid twenties after good training from day one, but trust me when I say you are more accomplished.”