The Mage and the Magpie

by Austin J. Bailey

  Hugo looked at her, struck by a sudden idea. “Okay,” he said, hurrying to get his boots. “Okay. I’ll take you to see some people. I know a lot of people. We’ll start with the knights. You can meet them and see if you can pick someone.”

  “But I’ve already picked someone,” she said, standing up.

  He got to his feet too, one boot on, one left by the chair. “You have? Who?”

  “You.”

  Hugo stared at her blankly.

  She smiled at him and held out the ball.

  He reached his hand out for it slowly, then paused. “But this means…”

  “You’ll be a mage,” she said softly. “Will you take it?”

  He took it. The ball melted in his hand and he gave a sharp intake of breath. The little golden strands of light unwound and wrapped themselves around his hand, scooting up his arm. It moved across his chest until it was right over his heart, then sank in through his shirt, through his skin.

  He shivered.

  “Are you okay?” Brinley asked him, taking his arm.

  “Yeah, I think so. What happens now?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “What will my father say?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Hugo grinned. “Okay.”

  Hey, Hugo, she said, reaching out to him with her mind.

  “What?” he asked. Then his face grew pale. “Holy buns,” he mumbled. “That’s different.”

  She nodded. “I think a lot of things will be different now.”

  ***

  She left Hugo’s rooms feeling exhilarated. One down. Now she needed to find Tabitha. She thought over the events of the day, looking for some clue as to what might have happened to her. She had made Hugo relate Archibald’s account to her in full. How could she have disappeared? Where could she have gone?

  Then she remembered. The swan! No wonder it had stuck out to Belterras. It wasn’t a bird at all. She didn’t know how she knew it, but she felt certain.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  In which there is a herald

  She found the mage of Earth among the earth; he was in the king’s gardens, speaking to the birds. She didn’t have to ask anyone where he was. She could feel him there, like you feel a person in a dark room right in front of you. She could have found him anywhere. He was a mage, and she was the Magemother.

  “Have you found her yet?” she asked. She had walked up behind him quietly, and he hadn’t heard her coming.

  He jumped, turning away from the birds. “Brinley!” he said. “I mean, Mother.” He smiled and offered her a seat on a little stone bench that bridged a garden stream. “To what do I owe this honor? I would have thought you’d be sleeping till lunchtime.”

  Brinley looked up at the pinpricks of starlight clinging to the dawn. “Maybe later,” she said. “I wanted to ask you about the swan.”

  “Really?” Belterras looked surprised, and more than a little pleased. “Good.” He smiled. “I know the swan is significant somehow. Unfortunately, no one seems to know where it went.” He gestured at the birds peeping out of the trees around them.

  “I think I do,” she said.

  He blinked in surprise.

  “Really?”

  “Yes. Will you take me?”

  ***

  A very large harpy eagle landed on the east balcony of the highest tower of the Magisterium and Brinley slid smoothly from its back. The eagle became Belterras again and they walked into the tower together.

  “What a wonderful place!” he said brightly. “I came here myself once, when I was blown into a hedgeapple tree…I had almost forgotten. A little girl took thorns out of my wing. Is that who we are looking for?”

  “Yes,” Brinley said, looking around now.

  “There,” Belterras said, pointing to a dark corner of the roof where a black swan was nestled beside a family of starlings.

  Brinley held out her hands and called to it, and the swan glided down to land at their feet, looking up at them.

  “Tell me about her,” Belterras said eagerly.

  “Her name is Tabitha.”

  “Does she study shape changing at the school? I had no idea that the Magisterium had produced anyone with her talent. I’m surprised I have not heard about it.”

  “I’m not,” Brinley said. “She studies what she wants. Mostly how to help things that can’t help themselves. The rest of the time she stays up here, collecting news from the birds.” Brinley placed her hand on the swan’s head gently. “Nobody knows her, really. I think I might be her only friend.”

  “My, my,” Belterras cooed, bending down to stroke a glossy black wing. “I have been looking for someone like her for half my life.”

  Brinley nodded. This is what she had hoped for. “You need an apprentice,” she said.

  Belterras looked up at her like he was about to backpedal. “Well, I’m not sure I’m really old enough to have a formal apprentice,” he said, winking, “but I would certainly like to tutor her, for a start. Someone with her talent! Imagine the possibilities.” He stared off into the distance and Brinley smiled to herself.

  “Why won’t she change back?” Brinley asked. “‘Doesn’t she know how?”

  Belterras smiled. “Oh, I think she could figure it out, if she wanted to. It’s very freeing, being a bird. The first time I did it I didn’t change back for a month. I was terrified I’d never be able to do it again.”

  Unbidden, a question popped into Brinley’s mind. “Belterras,” she said. “Can I learn to change shape, too? My mother told me the Magemother wasn’t an actual mage, but she could change shape just like you.”

  Belterras gave her a kind smile. “With enough practice,” he said, “you may be able to. Almost anyone may learn, given enough time and the right teacher. I worked with her for a long time before she was able to accomplish the task.” He chuckled. “Actually, it happened quite by accident. She was trying to turn into a swallow‌—‌a very graceful bird, but a magpie flew past as she was transforming for the first time, and her concentration wavered. Next thing you know she was a magpie. She never could shape anything else.”

  Brinley nodded. “What about Tabitha?”

  “Ah,” he said, turning back to the swan. “For her it will be very different. I expect she will take to new shapes like a duck to water. Speaking of which, it would be nice to talk to her while we are here.” He looked the swan in the eyes. “You can be yourself now,” he said. “I promise I’ll teach you to be a bird again if it’s the last thing I do, though I think you will find that it is very easy.”

  The swan’s head swung swiftly up at him then, its form shifting silently under the morning sun.

  “Tabitha!” Brinley cried, throwing her arms around the girl.

  Tabitha looked a little confused, but pleased. “I knew you would come for me,” she said softly in Brinley’s ear. “I knew it.” She pulled away, looking at Belterras. “Hello, Belsie,” she said, surprised.

  “Hello.”

  “You’ll teach me?”

  “Yes.”

  She looked back at Brinley. “You don’t need me?”

  Brinley felt her heart break a little. “Of course I do, Tabitha. You’re my best friend in the world, and I barely even know you.”

  “Don’t worry about that,” Tabitha said, waving her hand dismissively.

  Brinley gave her a long smile. They walked to the east balcony, arms around each other. Belterras moved away politely, studying the array of birds‌—‌talking to them, she realized.

  “What is it?” Tabitha asked her.

  “What?”

  “You wanted to tell me something else?”

  “Well, yes.”

  “What?”

  Brinley laughed. She wasn’t used to talking to people like Tabitha‌—‌not that there were people like Tabitha. She was looking forward to getting used to it.

  “I do need your help, Tabitha, and Belterras does, too.”

  Tabitha looked over her shoulder
at the mage when his name was mentioned. “What does he want?” she whispered. “I thought he was going to teach me how to be a bird again.” She grinned playfully. “I’m already pretty good.”

  Brinley giggled. “He wants to train you, Tabitha. Maybe to be his apprentice one day. Maybe to take over for him one day.”

  Tabitha’s eyebrows shot precariously high, looking back at him with wonder. Her gaze slowly dimmed, eyebrows locked up, gazing at nothing.

  “But for now,” Brinley said, shaking the other girl’s sleeve, “I hope you will do something for me.”

  “Oh,” Tabitha said, blinking the haze away. “What?”

  “I want you to be my herald.”

  Tabitha looked confused.

  “I’m the Magemother now,” Brinley began.

  Tabitha patted her on the head, smiling proudly. “I know that, silly.”

  Brinley laughed again. “That means I need a herald.”

  “Like Peridot?”

  “Exactly,” Brinley nodded. “Like Peridot.”

  “But I’m not like Peridot,” Tabitha protested.

  Brinley smiled. “I expect lots of people will say that, but I think you are more like her than you might think.”

  Tabitha scowled slightly, thinking hard. “What would I do?” she asked.

  “Well,” Brinley began. “I have a lot of things to do. We just had a war, didn’t we? And I have to find the lost mages. The Magemother’s herald goes with her everywhere, mostly to protect her. I think that is mainly what Peridot did for my mother. My mother told me I needed my own herald right away. Will you do it?”

  “But how would I protect you?” Tabitha asked. “I’m not a Laurel like Peridot.” She raised her fingers like claws and opened her mouth as if she had fangs.

  Brinley laughed again and pushed Tabitha’s hands back down. She turned to Belterras. “Can you teach Tabitha to become other animals?” she asked.

  He raised an eyebrow. “Of course,” he said. “She will have to learn them all.”

  “There,” Brinley said triumphantly. “When we need to fly you can be a bird. When we need to run, you can be a gazelle. When we need to fight‌—‌”

  “I can be a whale,” Tabitha said, a look of comprehension on her face. “Squish them!” She clapped her hands together loudly to emphasize the point, and several birds shuffled away at the noise.

  Brinley and Belterras laughed. Tabitha gave a shy smile.

  “I’ll leave you two to figure things out, then,” Belterras said. “I have many things to attend to.” He nodded to Tabitha. “I look forward to our time together.”

  She gave a little curtsy.

  When he had gone, Brinley turned to Tabitha.

  “Well,” she said.

  Tabitha raised her eyebrows. “What?”

  “I’d like to go back to the castle, herald.”

  Tabitha blushed. “It’s a long walk,” she said thoughtfully.

  Brinley laughed. “I was thinking we could fly.”

  Tabitha looked startled.

  “Do you think you can turn back into that swan? Or maybe a bit of a bigger swan?”

  Tabitha went quiet, her eyes staring blankly into space.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  In which there is a mother

  What will we do first?” Tabitha asked her. They were soaring high above the castle, descending in lazy loops as Tabitha slid from one warm updraft to another. Tabitha’s starlings glided around them like a halo.

  “Find the mages,” she answered, “and learn how to take care of myself. I mean, you can’t always be there to protect me.”

  “Yes, I can,” Tabitha said matter-of-factly.

  “No, you can’t.”

  “No, I can’t,” Tabitha agreed easily.

  They were silent for a while, enjoying each other’s company.

  “You’ve changed,” Tabitha said at length.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well,” Tabitha said, “when I met you, I could tell all you wanted was to go home.”

  Brinley nodded. “I did,” she admitted.

  “And?”

  “And what?”

  “What happened?”

  “Well, I did go home,” she began, wincing as she remembered. She still felt bad at the way she had run away, but deep down she knew it had to happen that way. “But when I was there I realized that there were more important things.”

  “What about now? Do you still want to go back?”

  Brinley cocked her head. “To tell you the truth, I haven’t thought about it.”

  Tabitha dipped her slender black neck in acknowledgment. “It’s probably better that way.”

  There was another long silence before either of them spoke. Tabitha flapped her wings once, pushing them out of the thermals to glide toward the lake. “Funny, isn’t it?” Tabitha said finally.

  “What?”

  “You know, how you came here looking for a mother, and really you just became one instead.”

  Brinley thought about it for a moment. “No,” she said. “It’s not strange.”

  Tabitha nodded. “I see what you mean. Sort of perfect, really.”

  They saw Animus walking across a balustrade to the king’s chamber far below them.

  “What’s it like, being their mother?” Tabitha asked in a dreamy voice.

  Brinley closed her eyes at the thought of it. “Oh,” she said, “I don’t know.”

  “Yes, you do,” Tabitha said.

  Brinley smiled grimly. “It’s very stressful actually,” she said. “I feel this big responsibility hanging over me, but I don’t know how to fulfill it, and I am terrified that I am going to mess it up. I don’t mean to complain‌—‌” she amended hastily. “It’s really wonderful, too. I’ve never felt anything like it before.”

  She rushed on, her feelings pouring out of her in a torrent. “It’s changing me, you know? Even now, already. You wouldn’t think so, but it is. It’s like my heart has little rivers going out of it‌—‌one for each of them‌—‌and I don’t know where they lead. The water goes both ways, and all I am is that heart, and all I want is for the rivers to run‌—‌full and wild and free…”

  “And safe,” Tabitha added, glancing sideways at one of her starlings as it whizzed past her to land atop her head.

  “And safe,” Brinley agreed. “Always safe.”

  She bent down to hug Tabitha close as they soared through the sky.

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  People and Places

  Aberdeen The lands under the rule of King Remy, consisting of the countries of Caraway, Aquilar, Hedgemon, Chair, and the Greggan States.

  Agner A Teacher at the Magisterium.

  Archibald The most trusted advisor to the King of Caraway.

  Animus The Mage of Wind.

  Aquilar A Country in Aberdeen.

  Belterras The Mage of Earth.

  Brinley The main character. If you don't know who she is, you should probably just start over.

  Calypsis The moon of Aberdeen. The location of the Magemother’s castle.

  Cannon The Apprentice of Animus.

  Captain Mark The Captain of the King’s Guard in Caraway.

  Caraway The most powerful country in Aberdeen. The king of Caraway is also the King of Aberdeen.

  Cassis The Mage of Metal.

  Chair A country in Aberdeen.

  Chantra The Mage of Fire.

  Dean Chambers Dean of the Magisterium.

  Denmyn School counselor at the Magisterium.

  Fall Hallows A large trade center in Ninebridge.

  Greggan States Ganna, Garra, Galla, Gappa, Gassa, Gatta. Together, they form one of the five countries in Aberdeen.

  Habis One of the oldest and most powerful witches in Aberdeen. Sister to March, and daughter of Shael.


  Hedgemon A country in the north of Aberdeen.

  Hugo Paradise The Prince of Caraway, and heir to the thrones of Caraway and Aberdeen. Son of Remy Paradise.

  Hurrit Ipps The head librarian at the Magisterium.

  Idris A type of evil giant that can take the form of a child.

  Kokum The witches village. Located in the Moorwood, near Cemlin.

  Kutha A giant owl. Evil creature that serves Shael.

  Lake of Eyes A lake in Pine Forest, close to Tarwal.

  Lignumis The Mage of Wood.

  Lux Tennebris The Mage of Light and Darkness.

  Magemother The guardian of the mages.

  Magisterium The ancient school of wizards. Located in Tarwal.

  March a.k.a. The March Witch. One of the oldest and most powerful witches in Aberdeen. Sister to Habis, and daughter of Shael.

  Moorwood A forest in Aquilar.

  Morley A ghost town near Brinley’s home in Colorado.

  Ninebridge An important city in Caraway. The location of the nine magical bridges that lead to major cities in Aberdeen.

  Peridot The Magemother’s Herald. Peridot is a Laurel, or winged lion.

  Pike March’s servant/muscle.

  Pilfer Archibald’s pony.

  Pine Forest A large forest in the South of Caraway.

  Remy Paradise The King of Caraway, and the High King of Aberdeen.

  Shael An evil wizard of ancient date who was confined to the Wizard’s Ire.

  Tabitha Brinley’s friend. The bird girl at the Magisterim.

  Taluva The first Mage of Light and Darkness.

  Tarwal A city in the south of Caraway. Location of the Magisterium.

  Thieutukar Manisse a.k.a. Tuck. The King of the Gnomes.

  Unda The Mage of Water.

  Wizard’s Ire This is the nasty bad place where Shael, and other evil creatures are imprisoned. It is separated from the rest of Aberdeen by a deep, impassable canyon.

  Acknowledgements

  Thank you to…

  …Brinley, for her name, her frogs, and her inspirational spirit.

  …my wife, whom I cannot thank enough for making me do this.

  …my mom, who paved the way by writing a book first.

  …my dad, who gave me my love of reading (this book is just over eighty thousand words. To date, I estimate that he has read over eight million words to me).