The Formerly Dark Mage

by D. L. Harrison

  I nodded. I hadn’t yet taken an apprentice and I knew she would be powerful, if she had drive. Using detect spells I went over her carefully and didn’t find any spells or control magic. Yes, I am paranoid. I walked over to Helen and handed her some coin for the month as usual.

  I said, “I would like to take her as an apprentice Helen, if she wants. She has a ton of potential.”

  Helen grinned, “That would be great. It’s always good to find one of them a new home,” she called, “Rina!”

  When Rina came over Helen said, “Would you like to go home with Silvia. She wants to take care of you.”

  Rina looked at me with wide eyes and said, “Will you make the wind?”

  I smiled and said, “Yes, but even better… I’ll teach you to make it.”

  She nodded up at me.

  Rina was a ball of sunshine and generous of heart. In many ways she reminded me of that five year old before I learned the harshness of life in Zual. I would do my best to ensure she never learned that harsh lesson. I settled in to teach, and play with my new apprentice. She was sharp and learned the easy glyphs quickly, but I never forgot she was just seven. I started out with short sessions, trying to make them fun for her.

  I also taught her to read so she would be equipped to find her own answers. Over the next year she flourished and absorbed things like a sponge. Like me she hungered for the knowledge, but I was so thankful that it came from a good place, not like me, who had been driven to learn for survival.

  She was not the only one to learn. Like Hollis and Maria, she taught me how to love life a little. Changed me, brought me a little closer to feeling human, not as broken anymore. She was a gift. Not to say it was all perfect though, she often got into trouble, and surprisingly with Elaine. That girl, princess or not, was trouble.

  I was playing whirlwind keep away, we would each cast a whirlwind and try to get control of a ball, or scrunched up piece of parchment, believe it or not the little kid was winning when someone entered the store. We both stopped and released our spells at the sound of the door, she learned early our games would more often than not freak out the customers. I blinked my eyes in disbelief and said, “Captain Herch?”

  Chapter 16

  Captain Herch said, “Lady Silvia, it is good to see you again.”

  I started to bristle at the use of my very empty title in Lethia, but pushed it down. The soldiers were always appreciative for what I did for them, genuinely. I did not want to pay that back with my own issues. Still, what did him showing up mean?

  “So, what brings you into my store captain?”

  “King Tristan sent me, he wanted me to hire you to set up some travel portals from the capitol to both the passes, as well as the six main villages between the capitol and the Sandoval border. We already have those communicators out there, but the speed of moving soldiers is an… issue he wants to alleviate.”

  I cocked my eye at him and said with a hint of disbelief, “Can’t the white mages do that? I know they don’t know my secrets, but surely they have realized by now, with the amount I have put out there, how to enchant the ritual at least.”

  He turned a little red and looked uncomfortable, clearing his throat he admitted, “They did my lady, for the two passes into Zual anyway. The problem is since they aren’t yours, they require a mage to activate, and they can hardly bestir themselves to do it once a week as agreed when they made them.”

  He looked at me plaintively, “May I be blunt my lady?”

  When I nodded in agreement he continued, “You know the king never actually wanted you to leave, but the mages… They are powerful and he steps quietly. It has only grown worse over the last two years, they are even more arrogant. The purpose of the council was for mages to self govern, since a king or normal man simply can’t fight them. But…” he trailed off.

  I said with a tinge of anger, “I think I understand, what happens when the council becomes corrupt. Plus, if not for their support, or the court mages, the swords would expire and you would have no way to fight Zual.”

  I sighed. “Ironically what I have done here is what I started doing as court mage, the swords would have charged themselves if I had been able to complete my project.”

  Herch grimaced and said, “I knew that, the commander had briefed his Captains about it, then, suddenly you were gone. When he asked the new court mage about it… well he wasn’t happy, let’s leave it at that.”

  I gave in, I didn’t really need the gold, but eight portals at forty each was attractive. That much money could run the orphanage for a lifetime, even with expansion and improvements. Plus, over the last year my relationship with Maria had improved again, but this time as close friends. I still sometimes felt wistful over what we had, but it hadn’t hurt in months.

  I asked, “Do you have the coin or do you need to get back. It will take about a week to get them all done.”

  Truthfully I could do one in about two hours now, but total focus for more time than that wears on me. I had taken the shaping idea to the next level. Now I just create an illusion of the enchantment and cast the elemental to copy it. With all the glyphs already there, I just needed to go over each one with the enchantment spell and insert the intent into each glyph. So it would go about as fast as if I were casting it normally.

  He blushed and said, “Well, about that. It took some fast talking on the part of the king to even get the council to approve it. For any expense that large it takes assent of both ruling bodies to pass. The council… they would only approve it if you go there and do it. They umm, they even created eight arches in the courtyard by the barracks for you to enchant.”

  I frowned, my mind screaming at me… trap! Was I just being paranoid because of my contempt for the white mages, how they treated me and still regard the royal family? I was angry with Tristan for a long time, but forgave him, he is only a king that lacks the power to truly be one. Fighting for me on that day would have only made things worse for him, and I’d have still been packing.

  The real question was what type of trap, did they want to observe and try to steal my secrets, something more sinister, or both? I had to admit I had been a disruption with all the new magic being passed around.

  Mostly in a good way I thought, but that was just my opinion.

  If travel portal had been a ritual I could not do while fully shielded with protections, I would have said no. Perhaps it was foolish, did I really want to see if I could match wits, win and rub their faces in it? Yes, I have to admit in a small petty part of my soul that’s exactly what I wanted. But, that was just a part of it. The thought of seeing my old friends, few though they were, was an attractive idea as well.

  Now the question was, how could I create a connection without them seeing while they looked over my shoulder? Since the magic was all hidden I wasn’t worried about them discovering the ritual, but still, seeing that there was a charging plate was a big part of it as well. I would have to think about it.

  Palm the plate with chameleon hiding it? Or perhaps something mundane, instead of using plates I could create eight identical gold rings and just swap them every day? Sometimes a mundane trick works best. My one worry was, if they all came at me at once I knew, even with my powerful bracelet, they would overwhelm me. It was a gamble if they outright attacked, but then, I thought they were too arrogant to think of attacking me all out with all their members at the same time.

  Assuming even, that all their members would do so. It would be hard to make every one of them disregard the law, wouldn’t it? I hoped it would anyway.

  I breathed out a sigh as I finished my though process, trying to see the angles. I slowly nodded. “I think that is acceptable. I would need to return here however, each afternoon. My customers know I keep short hours, but they expect to find me if they come in between lunch and dinner.”

  Rina asked, “When are we going?” She looked way too excited.

  I thought briefly about leaving her home, but dismissed it. I had learned m
uch harsher lessons at an earlier age. This would be a good way to teach her how not to act. A lesson by bad example.

  I said, “Rina, you need to be extra good when we go tomorrow. Also, I want you to pay close attention to how the white mages act, what they do and what they say. It will be a good lesson to learn about how not to act when you have power. If you can do that, you can come.”

  And if they harm a hair on her head, the masters of Zual will have nightmares when they hear the stories of what happened next.

  Herch laughed hard at my comment and nodded in agreement.

  I said, “Captain, meet us here at first light. Unless you want to go back and let everyone know we will be arriving in the morning?”

  Herch looked thoughtful for a second and said, “The second one I think, that way you won’t be stuck waiting a long time while everyone is summoned. The courtyard by the barracks will work.”

  I said while casting the ritual, “Well then, see you tomorrow Captain,” timing it so the portal opened immediately after I was done speaking.

  His mouth dropped open and he bowed, “Lady Silvia,” then stepped through.

  I dismissed the portal and moved into the back. After removing eight silver from the small vault I summoned an earth elemental to make them identical silver rings, with the appropriate enchantment glyphs on the inside. I enchanted the hidden magic, monitoring ward on each ring, then put seven away. I had decided not to take anything with me outside of what I was wearing as I was leaving each day for the shop anyway. I could put one ring in the charging cave, and then grab the next before going back.

  I paused a moment, wondering if I was being foolish and would regret going. No, this wasn’t just about my ego and outsmarting the white mage council. I was looking forward to seeing Tristan, Emory, Maria, and little Anna, who was sixteen now and probably had grown. I really hoped that Maynard hadn’t ruined the girl and turned her into an arrogant twit like himself. And although I still could not bring myself to allow a man into my life intimately, I was looking forward to meeting prince Varian.

  I felt a little whirlwind pull at my robes and turned to see a grinning Rina fighting between holding her concentration and breaking out in giggles.

  I said mock severely, “Fine, we will play some more but then you need to get your reading done.”

  I cast a little water spout and her eyes grew big and we played. It was a great way to increase her concentration, control, focus, creativity and abilities. It was also rather fun, twenty seven year old former dark mage or not…

  The following morning I instructed Rina again to hold her tongue. That even though some of these people we were going to see didn’t act right, they were not to be corrected, but learned from on how not to act.

  I opened a travel portal, returning to Lethia for the first time in two years, both hopeful and wary. I had barely stepped through when Maria pulled me into a tight hug.

  I grinned while squeezing her hard in return and said, “Is this how you greet all the common merchants Princess?”

  She laughed, “Of course, why do you think we have so many merchants.”

  I heard a cough and looked over and saw prince Varian, he looked scandalized which of course, made me laugh harder. The only others in the courtyard were four white mages and the commander. I looked at Maria in question. The king, her father and Anna were not here. Perhaps it was arrogant of me to expect it, but I thought of them as friends, not a king, duke and court apprentice.

  Maria said, “They couldn’t get away, but hope you’ll join us for lunch.”

  I nodded and she introduced her husband, “This is my husband, Prince Varian. Varian this is the infamous master mage Silvia.”

  I heard one of the white mages snort but ignored it.

  I smiled tentatively and said, “Nice to meet you. This is Rina, my apprentice.”

  I looked over and saw eight arches. I had to admit they looked impressive, they were solid marble. They would perhaps let a wagon through, but barely. That gave me an idea but I was hesitant to ask for a change of plans at this stage. They would probably argue about it for months.

  I was fairly sure I could make one gate, much larger, that would open to all eight locations. It would require me to make it like my staff, leaving off the last three glyphs for destination, size and duration. Actually, size and duration could be a constant as well. With eight wards, one for each destination, I could have it run the common sequence, then choose its assigned destination glyph and activate it.

  It was a good idea, but maybe for the future, I was reluctant to change anything. It would be a nightmare, plus they may try to haggle the price down since it would be less work, although still eight destinations. I squashed my creative side and got down to work. One more whispered reminder to be good and I walked over toward the arches. I created the illusion of all the glyphs, then summoned an earth elemental. It went from arch to arch and carved them all in for me.

  It took about five minutes to do all eight. I heard the white mages muttering to each other behind me but just ignored it.

  I turned to Maria and Varian and said, “This next part is going to take close to two hours and I need to concentrate. Any questions before I get started, it will be a bad idea to interrupt me once I start.”

  Maria said, “No, but I’m glad you told me.”

  I expected her and the prince to leave and come back later, after all this would be boring. But they stayed. She noticed me looking quizzical and rolled her eyes toward the white mages. Great, even she thinks something fishy is going on, not that she could do anything, but I was happy for the sentiment of them staying and keeping an eye on things.

  I sat down and started enchanting the glyphs. Half way through I took a break, before I restarted I touched the arch with my hand, and more importantly with the ring and released the charging ritual, silently linking them. I tried to pass it off as inspecting my work, hopefully they wouldn’t catch on by my actions, I knew they wouldn’t be able to sense the link or the casting.

  I sat back down to finish it up. As I was working I felt my protections briefly flash. I felt the flavor of it and knew it had been a tracking spell attempt. I was impressed, I hadn’t thought of that. Instead of figuring out how I linked things, they were planning on following me around to see what they could find. I would need to stay on my toes. Most likely that was supposed to mislead me, after all, they could feel I had protections, if it were the real plan they were more stupid than I realized and I knew that wasn’t true.

  I called Maria over and said, “You want to do the honors princess?”

  She smiled and said, “What do I do.”

  I said, “Just touch the arch and think open.”

  She nodded in understanding, and she probably does. It’s not hard and it works pretty much the same way as the communications bracelet I gave her long ago. She touched the arch and it was suddenly filled with a view of a large clearing, with the ocean and pass in view. When she took her hand from the arch it turned off five seconds later.

  Maria said, “Isn’t that a little short, what if we have to move a lot of people or equipment through?”

  I replied, “Actually the five seconds doesn’t start until you let go, so it’s completely variable. Since a mage would be required to dismiss an active gate, it would be a security concern to have it open a set long time so close to the pass. So, as a compromise, if you need it open longer, whoever opens it needs to stand there with their hand on the arch until ready to close it. Yet, the five seconds will still allow a single person to open it and have plenty of time to step through.”

  Maria looked thoughtful, and impressed. It was something I thought of a long time ago, with normal people opening a gate. If there was danger on the other side they would be screwed. Yet, this way the danger was more manageable.

  Varian said, “The morning audience is probably still going, but we can go to the dining room early and wait there, I bet you’re tired after that.”

  I nodded g
ratefully and said, “Thank you.”

  Rina, looking at me concerned said, “What did that man do to you?”

  I smiled, “You felt that? I’m proud of you. He didn’t do anything, or at least, it didn’t do anything okay?”

  Rina blushed at the compliment but seemed happy about it and she mumbled her agreement. She took my hand as we walked through the palace. The mages broke off and went toward the mage suite which I was happy about. I thought it was kind of… strange. They hadn’t even introduced themselves.

  Coming into the dining hall, I saw Anna smiling widely at me and felt a moment of relief. We all joined her at one of the tables, lunch wasn’t a formal thing like dinner was. She had gotten taller and more filled out in the two years I was gone.

  Anna said, “Good to see you. I wanted to greet you this morning but Maynard told me to stay away. I think he might have meant all together, but I chose to take it as just in the courtyard.”

  I laughed softly, glad to see the girl still had her mischievous spirit.

  I said, “I bet you drive him crazy.”

  She snorted and said, “It’s mutual, trust me.”

  I nodded, satisfied at what I saw. I think I was going to ask her if she wanted to be my apprentice before this week was up. When I had left here I was too much of a mess to take care of myself really, much less an apprentice, but now… I always felt a little guilty leaving her here. The odds were set against her on not becoming either someone to take advantage of, or worse, someone that follows in their footsteps.

  I had also been under the impression being my apprentice would put a stigma on her, and I suppose it was still true. But the world was a big place and the Lethian white mage council was only one small part of it. If anything the opposite was true in Zandoval and Mendell, I had a great reputation in both kingdoms.

  I really hated the white mages sometimes. Who knows though, we haven’t ever discussed the possibility. She might say no.