Morgoran put his hand on Sheyna’s shoulder. “Aye, I do. You still need a new master.” He paused to look into her eyes. “I shall apprentice you.”
“You, Morgoran?” Ianthill said. “I have never known you to apprentice anyone.”
“I was merely waiting for someone worthy of me,” he said. There was an intense silence. “That was a joke.”
Ianthill shook his head.
“I will have to take you to the Vale of Morgoran to instruct you. I will not be staying here in Symbor. Do you accept?” Morgoran asked.
“It’s true, you have never apprenticed anyone before?” Sheyna asked. Morgoran shook his head that he had not. “I guess I would be foolish to turn down your offer. I accept, but on one condition.”
“Oh, and what condition might that be?” Morgoran asked.
“If I am to be your apprentice and travel to the Vale of Morgoran with you, I wish to be referred to as simply Shey, not Sheyna. I am not too fond of that name anymore.”
Morgoran chuckled. “Very well. I accept your condition. I hope my wisdom will forever benefit you, young Lady Shey.”
Chapter 18: Trouble with a Capital G
Nestled in a shady vale surrounded by glimmering white buildings stood the Tower of Morgoran. The tower itself was bigger and wider than Enowene’s tower in Symbor, and the attached side buildings seemed smaller from Shey’s perspective.
“All right, Shey Namear, now that the tower is in sight, I need to fill you in on a few matters. First, the keeper of the tower is a man called Eckard. He is the one you need to go to if you need anything pertaining to the household. Second, the cleric of tower is called Kerad. He is a cleric of Loracia, so he can heal up any scrapes or bruises, not that I expect you to receive any,” Morgoran said.
“Eckard and Kerad, got it.”
“Dicarion and Marella will be arriving in about a week. I will have your private rooms assigned next to each other,” Morgoran mentioned.
“Thank you! I am excited to see her. You know we didn’t get along when we first met.” Shey abruptly realized she was nervous, and it manifested itself as chitter chatter.
“The best friendships usually start off that way. I still do not get along with Ianthill all that well, but I wouldn’t trade our friendship and brotherhood for all the riches of the kingdoms.” He hesitated a moment. “Now, don’t you go telling him that.”
Shey chuckled. “That would be embarrassing.”
“Aye, it would. That elf would throw it in my face at every fool argument. Speaking of the old fool, he will be staying and training his apprentice in the tower for a while also. We felt it was best, given the circumstances, to stick together. Strength in numbers, you understand.”
“Aye, it’s a good idea. What is Ianthill’s apprentice like? Is she an elf?” Shey asked.
Morgoran’s face went ashen. “She is a he, and he’s a bit different.”
“Oh, in what way? Is he handsome?”
Morgoran turned from ashen to absolute pale. “Don’t go getting any ideas about this one; he is not the marrying kind. He is a half-elf and a scoundrel. He is Ianthill’s first apprentice, and the old fool has been so-called teaching this fellow for a couple of seasons now. I plan to have Eckard keep a close eye on him. Your mother would never forgive me if I let you even dream of any romantic ruminations with him.”
“He can’t be that bad, can he? Ianthill doesn’t seem like the kind who would put up with nonsense for long,” Shey stated.
“Don’t let the old elf fool you. Half the time, he’s joining in with his apprentice’s vices rather than dissuading them. It should be an interesting stay with those two. However, no matter how fun, charming, or interesting you find this fellow, I would rather you stick to your studies and not let Ianthill’s wayward apprentice get you into trouble, agreed?”
“Aye, agreed. I understand that I am your first apprentice. I will not let you down.”
“You are my only apprentice, and I do not plan to ever take on another,” he said with unusual bravado.
Shey nodded. “Morgoran, did you know my father?”
“Some. He and I never made the effort to get to know each other. Are you excited to see him?”
“Of course! When Mother left last month to go look for him, some of the memories I got from the figurine came back to me about him. I just hope Mother can find him soon.”
“Don’t you worry about that. If anyone can find him, it will be her,” he said.
As their carriage neared the outer walls of the village surrounding the Tower of Morgoran, a horseman rode out to greet them. The horseman wore all black except for a white shirt underneath a long, flowing jacket. As he neared, Shey made out his sharp features and high forehead with a receding hairline. His temples were grey, but the rest of his hair was brown. He was a pleasant-looking fellow with a wide smile on his face as he approached.
“Ho there, Master Morgoran,” he called out when he came near. “Welcome home.”
“Ho there, Eckard. I wasn’t expecting a welcome party.”
“Just a party of one, Master Morgoran. I thought I would ride in with you. It is such a fine day out.”
“Aye, it is. I welcome your company.” He adjusted in his seat to showcase Shey. “Here, let me introduce you to Sheyna Namear, my new apprentice.”
“Call me Shey, please,” Shey said.
Eckard bowed down on his horse, extending his hand in waving motion in front of his face in greeting. “I will more properly address you when we get to the tower, mistress.”
“Open the gate for the master!” Shey heard a man call out from up above as they neared the entrance to the protective wall. The gate swung open, revealing the village to Shey for the first time. The whole of the village along with the tower was called the Vale of Morgoran. The village came to be due to the dangers that once roamed the countryside, not unlike the creatures Shey had already encountered. The people sought out the protection of the wizard in the tower, and hence, the village was born.
The streets were of white cobblestone, and the buildings appeared new and were also white and glimmering, except for signage and some earth-tone trim. Ivy and other green plants crawled up the sides of some of the shops and houses. Medium-sized trees landscaped to perfection over grassy knolls adorned every block, adding beauty. Soon they traveled through a gated inter wall into a hedge-lined thoroughfare flanked by green grass and trees leading up to the white Tower of Morgoran at the center. The tower was enormous, and it stood at the epicenter of two wings built directly attached to it on either side. Shey was wrong; the wings were much larger than the wings attached to the tower in Symbor. A stable hand waited at the entrance to take the carriage.
Once inside the tower, Shey marveled on how different it was from the tower she left behind in Symbor. The whole of the tower appeared new and was polished spotlessly clean, inside and out. White walls were adorned with tapestries and framed paintings. Cherrywood tables and other furniture appointed each room. What made her most excited was the elegance of the potted plants strategically placed throughout to absorb the maximum amount of sunlight beaming through the windows.
After getting settled in her luxurious room, an attendant came for her to escort her down to dinner. The dining room was just as magnificent as the rest of the tower, with a long, rectangular wooden table in the center draped with several tablecloths in a diamond pattern. Morgoran sat at the head, sipping from a silver goblet. He stood up when she entered the room.
As soon as Shey was seated, attendants began pouring red wine into her own silver goblet. A cold soup was placed before her in a glass bowl.
“I trust you got settled?” Morgoran asked.
“Aye, I did.” She had to almost shout since she was seated so far down the table from him.
“See here. Seat her down here near me on the right,” Morgoran said to a nearby attendant. The servants buzzed around her like bees, moving her soup and place setting down to Morgoran’s immediate right. “
There, that’s much better. I can talk to you now.”
Shey nodded and started in on the soup. The traveling had made her hungry.
“I was told Ianthill and his apprentice arrived a few moments ago. They will be brought down shortly.”
“You never told me the apprentice’s name.”
“Oh, an oversight, I suppose. I thought I had,” Morgoran said.
There was a long silence that Shey did not understand. Perhaps Morgoran’s dislike for the apprentice held his tongue. “Gondrial. The apprentice’s name is Gondrial,” he said finally.
Shey nodded but was careful not to say anything about the name for fear Morgoran would have a snide comment no matter what she said about it.
An attendant entered the room and walked directly to Morgoran. “Master, your guests have arrived.”
“Announce them.”
“Very good, master.” The attendant went back to the door and stood. “Master Ianthill and his apprentice, Gondrial,” he said.
Ianthill entered behind another attendant first, followed by Gondrial. Morgoran motioned for them to be seated to his immediate left. When Shey laid eyes upon Gondrial for the first time, butterflies fluttered in her stomach. He was not only handsome, he was the most handsome thing she had ever seen. He appeared to be about the same age as she. He wore tailored clothes—she could tell because they fit so well—and a small, trimmed Van Dyke goatee on his chin. His hair was midnight black. Instinctively she stood up when Morgoran did. Ianthill bowed to her.
“My lady, you look well,” he said. Shey panicked for a brief moment. How exactly did she look? She suddenly cared.
Gondrial came around the table to take her hand and kiss it. “You must be Lady Sheyna from Symbor.”
Shey fluttered at his touch, but she contained it, deciding to play as if she was not impressed. “It’s Shey now. I prefer Shey to Sheyna, if you don’t mind.”
Gondrial smiled. “Understandably.”
Shey was not sure if she should take offense or not.
“Do come sit down, Gondrial,” Ianthill commanded. “The lady is Morgoran’s apprentice, not some chambermaid for your charms.”
Shey felt herself blush and hoped it didn’t show. Gondrial went back around the table and seated himself next to Ianthill. Soup was brought out to both of them.
“I had Eckard assign you both adjacent rooms, Ianthill, in the west wing,” Morgoran said.
“That will be splendid. I’m sure we will be comfortable,” Ianthill answered.
An attendant poured both Ianthill and Gondrial some wine, and Gondrial took a long drink. “Ack, that’s dreadful,” he said.
“Something wrong with your wine, Gondrial?” Morgoran asked.
“It’s dreadful!” he repeated.
Morgoran gave Shey a wink and leaned in to whisper, “He does this every time.” He sat back up. “I had some elven wine brought up from the wine cellars. I am still not going to tell you where the cellars are, I am afraid.” He looked around, but the attendants were all preparing to bring out the main course. “I will have an attendant bring it out when I see one.”
“No need, I know my way around the kitchen. I will just go fetch it myself.” Gondrial left the table and disappeared into the kitchen.
Ianthill took a bite of soup and pointed his spoon at Shey, “You warn her?”
“Aye, I did. You might be able to add to my warning, though,” Morgoran said.
Ianthill put down his spoon. “I love my apprentice with all my heart, but be warned, he loves women almost equally so. He is charming to a fault, so don’t fall victim to him. Of all his vices, he is loyal and will be at your side in an instant if you are in danger, but try to tame his heart and he will bolt like a frightened deer. And for the love of all the gods, do not let him entice you into getting into trouble. Once you spend a little time with him, you’ll see what I mean. He has a good heart, but he is a scoundrel. I have tried to drive it out of him, but he is who he is.”
“Don’t worry, masters, I’m not so easily charmed.” Even as the words left her mouth she knew they were a lie. She was already intrigued by him.
“Good, keep it that way,” Ianthill said.
The main course came and went and Shey noticed Gondrial had still not returned. Then dessert came and went, and Shey began to become concerned that Gondrial had not returned to the table after going to retrieve the elven wine. Ianthill and Morgoran discussed politics, best ways to start training apprentices, and other topics that bored Shey to tears the whole while she worried about Gondrial. Finally she couldn’t take it any longer.
“What of Gondrial?” she blurted out.
Ianthill looked toward the kitchen door. “He’s all right. He probably found himself a kitchen maid to feed him. Don’t go worrying about him, now.”
“Do you mind if I satisfy my curiosity?” Shey asked Morgoran.
“Not at all. I would start looking in the pantry if I were you. There’s a block of ice in there, and that’s where I had the elven wine stored earlier,” Morgoran said. He looked at Ianthill with a wide grin, and Shey knew she was missing something.
Once in the kitchen, she asked one of the attendants where the pantry was, and he took her there. When she opened the door, the place was a mess. Bags of beans, rice, and other dry goods were scattered everywhere; jars of foodstuff and small barrels were overturned, and cabinet doors were left opened. Gondrial was lying on top of a few busted, fluffy bags in the center of the pantry, covered in flour, a bottle of wine in his left hand. He startled awake when Shey entered. She stood there glaring at him in shock.
“What?” he said. “I had trouble finding the wine.”
End of Wielder: Apprentice
Book One of the Wielder Cycle
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Book 2 of the Wielder Cycle: Wielder Adept Chapter 1: The Oracle
Shey Namear, the only apprentice of the wielder Morgoran, slammed the dusty old book she was studying shut, producing a cloud of dust. The kings of Symboria were as dull as a bundle of practice swords, she thought. It was near impossible to study, because at any moment her best friend, Marella, would be arriving at the Vale of Morgoran with her master to stay indefinitely. Shey moved to watch the road from the tower windows. They would both graduate from wielder apprentice to wielder adept together. There was also a possibility that her mother, Sylvalora, might return soon. In fact, the tower would be home to a bevy of visitors soon. Morgoran hinted earlier in the week that Ianthill was also bringing his apprentice, Gondrial, to the Vale later in the season; of course, Shey was not too thrilled about seeing him again. She pushed the tome in front of her away. I can’t study! she thought before she decided to go down to the main entranceway and wait for her friend.
The summer sun burned hot on the tower, but Morgoran’s magic kept the temperature inside cool and comfortable as Shey descended the tower steps from her room up on the third tier. When she was about halfway down, she heard Morgoran greeting someone out on the portico. She leaped two steps at a time, almost tripping herself to get down the stairs. When she got to the door, she saw Dicarion taking down a trunk from his carriage. A moment later, the driver opened the carriage door and Marella stepped out.
“Marella!” Shey called to her.
Marella looked up, her face beaming in the summer sun. Her curly blonde locks bounced as she jumped to the ground running. The two girls met in the middle, in an embrace.
Dicarion stopped from his task of removing luggage to admire the friendship. “You would think they had been apart for decades rather than two seasons,” he said to Morgoran.
“To two young girls, seasons might seem like decades,” Morgoran replied.
Shey pointed to the top of the tower. “I had the room next to mine on the third tier prepared for you. The vie
w is spectacular. Morgoran let me choose from any of the rooms in the tower.”
“It sounds wonderful!” Marella said.
“I hope you’re hungry; the kitchen staff is preparing us a delicious lunch out on the patio.
“I am famished, but I would like to put my things away and wash some of the road off before we eat.”
“This way. I will show you,” Shey said, leading Marella through the entrance and up into the tower. “The porters will bring up your trunk. Get comfortable and wash up. I will meet you down at the patio. Just go back down the stairs and go east at the bottom. The patio is just outside the eastern double doors. You can’t miss it; when you get there the doors will be opened to the outside.”
“I’ll see you there,” Marella said as she found the washbasin.
As Shey anxiously awaited for Marella to come down to lunch, she took in the sights and smells around her. The small patio was the perfect setting for a casual lunch. The midday sun warmed the marble and stone, expelling the cooler morning air, and the fragrances from the flowerbeds surrounding the patio and lining the circular tower walls smelled fresh, clean, and pleasant.
Morgoran walked onto the patio and seated himself on the stone bench downwind from the table and continued to smoke his morning pipe. A few moments later, Dicarion joined them. Morgoran put away his pipe and went to the table just in time for the servants to bring in trays containing varieties of meats, breads, cheeses, and fruits. Shey felt her stomach rumble, and she remembered she had been too excited to eat breakfast earlier. She was thankful when Marella walked onto the patio. To Shey, a feast like the one now put before her was still a bit daunting. She almost felt like she needed to eat every morsel or it might go to waste and then she would not get to eat again for a long while, but she knew that to Marella, the feast was more commonplace.
Wielder: Apprentice: Book 1 of Lady Shey's Story (The Wielder Cycle) Page 13