Unofficial Detective

by Kathryn Wells

  Great slabs of chicken, ham, beef and turkey were piled on to Thordric's plate as well as stacks of vegetables and potatoes. Vey dug in too and for a moment they were both too busy eating to talk about anything.

  Thordric swallowed his last potato and took a swig of the fruit water by his plate. 'So what was it you wanted to talk about?' he asked Vey.

  Vey wiped his mouth with a cloth and Lizzie watched him with amusement. 'I wondered how serious you are about your magic,' he said.

  Thordric shrugged. 'More serious than I've ever been about anything else. I would never have believed the things I can do now.'

  'So you would be willing to learn more?' Vey said, trying to cut through his own stack of meat.

  'Of course I would. You were going to teach me more anyway, weren't you Lizzie?' he said, turning to her.

  'Yes, boy, I was. What is it you want with him, Eric?' she said.

  Vey grinned. 'I wondered if you would like to join the Council, Thordric.'

  Thordric stared at him. 'Are…are you serious?'

  'Of course. I'll have to assert my authority a bit to make the other wizards accept you, but once you've joined, they would be able to see the abilities that half-wizards can have. That should sway their thinking to my plan.'

  'I-I don't know what to say. I've never liked the Wizard Council. I suppose I've grown so used to them despising our type that it would be strange if I joined them,' Thordric said.

  'I understand. It will be different though; now that Kalljard isn't around to spread his lies. I want to make the Council better Thordric, not just in how they think but in what they do.' He looked Thordric in the eye. 'I need your help to do it. You've studied my father's way of magic, and the potion's and spells he made. I mean to implement them within the Council, so that we can really help people, instead of just giving them gimmicks.'

  Thordric laughed at that. 'My mother might not like you for that, she buys their special tea and coffee blends all the time; and their bath powder, come to think of it.' He thought for a moment. 'If it really is going to change…then yes, I would love to join the Council.'

  'Excellent. Now I don't know how long it will take me to straighten everything out when I get back after this week, so you might be stuck with my uncle for a bit longer,' Vey said, rather apologetically.

  'He's alright, really,' Thordric said. 'Well, he is now I grew his moustache back for him.'

  They all chuckled, and Lizzie stacked up their now empty plates and went to get dessert. She came back with one of her cakes, only it was much larger than any Thordric had seen her make before and was stuffed full of chocolate sauce and cherries. He helped himself to a large slice, using his magic to direct the knife as he cut it. Vey watched him, an appreciative smirk touching his lips.

  'I have a feeling that he might not stay just my boss for long,' Thordric continued. 'Judging by the way he and mother look at each other.'

  'Yes, I noticed that,' Lizzie said, not altogether approvingly. 'Glancing at each other like youngsters no older than you, it's enough to make me come over faint sometimes.'

  'I'm glad I'm not the only one,' Thordric grinned. He cut her and Vey large slices of cake too, and levitated them onto their plates. He rather enjoyed being able to do that.

  'How good are your other magic skills, Thordric?' Vey asked, watching him. Thordric opened his mouth, but Lizzie cut across him.

  'He figured out that wooden man your father took a week on in just a single day. He has enough skill for anything you want of him, I'm sure of that,' she said, beaming. 'He can paint murals too and the Watchem Watchems seem to like him.'

  Vey raised his eyebrows at this and tried to speak with his mouth full of cake. A sort of muffled grumbling came out and Thordric snorted at him. 'You saw the Watchem Watchems?' Vey said, swallowing. Thordric gave a modest shrug and told him all about his time in the woods with them. 'That's very impressive. Father said they only really like people with a kind heart…and very strong magic.'

  The next day was unusual for Thordric, now that the investigation was over. He left for the station at the normal time, although he arrived slightly later than usual because he had to clear the street of snow again, for it had fallen heavily during the night. Wondering what the Inspector was going to ask of him now that his usefulness there had ended, he walked past all the constables at the desk, trying to nod and smile at them for all the help they'd given him lately. To his surprise, the Inspector was glad to see him when he stepped into his office.

  'Ah, there you are boy. I was just about to go and ask your mother where you'd got to. Now that this whole messy wizard business is over, I was wondering if you would be up for doing a little job for me.'

  Thordric raised his eyebrows. 'What is this job, Inspector?' he said.

  The Inspector grinned, making his moustache dance about in a most unusual way. It seemed to react to the Inspector's happier moods now, as well as his irritated ones and Thordric was highly suspicious that his magic had had something to do with it. 'Take a look around you, boy,' the Inspector said, gesturing around the station.

  Thordric looked. The paint had started to peel in quite a few places, and that there was an unusual sort of moss growing in one corner. 'Starting to look a bit shabby, isn't it,' the Inspector continued.

  Thordric thought he knew where the Inspector was heading. 'Would you like me to re-decorate, Inspector?' he asked.

  'Why yes, as a matter of fact I would,' he said. 'My sister happened to mention that lovely mural you did at her house near the woods. I thought we could use something like that here, to give the men some inspiration to improve their work ethic.'

  Thordric thought it was a good idea. 'Is there anything specific you would like me to paint?'

  The Inspector thought for a moment, crinkling his moustache. 'Well, I think you levitating Wizard Rarn and forcing him to drink potion would look good, but I'll let you decide. I'm sure you can come up with something appropriate.' He flapped his hand at Thordric, signalling for him to go off and do it.

  With a smile, Thordric surveyed the rest of the building, noting every crack and flake of plaster, every damp patch and every dent. With a single thought, he cleared away all the dust, dirt and moss, before heating the damp patches so that they dried out fully. The constables kept on stopping their work to gather around and watch him, but he didn't mind. He stripped off all the paint and re-plastered, smoothing over the walls so that he had a fresh canvas. Then, without paint or brush, he started his mural, making it large enough to fill the whole station.

  Work had come to a complete stop by then. Even two constables, bringing in a thief they had just caught, stood with their mouths agape, watching all the colours appear on the wall and take shape. Thordric carried on like that for the rest of the day, not even stopping to eat, for as he soon discovered, he could keep it going while doing other things.

  The constable, whom he had sent out in the snow two days before, even brought out a game of checkers and Thordric sat there playing a game with him while his painting casually continued by itself.

  Unfortunately the Inspector came out of his office and saw them when they were only half-way through and took it away from them, sending all the constables lurking about out on the streets to patrol. They grumbled unhappily as they went, putting on their winter jackets and boots as slowly as possible so that they could watch the mural develop some more.

  Night set in before Thordric was finished, but he stayed an extra few hours after everyone had gone to get it done.

  When they walked in the next morning, none of them could speak.

  The sight before them looked so real that all they could do was stare. Thordric had gone with the Inspector's ideas about Rarn, but he had added in the constables bringing in the wizards and the ones that had stood on guard by the cells all night and by the interview rooms. Not a single man had been left out and Thordric grinned rather smugly as they all walked around the station identifying themselves on the wall.

&
nbsp; 'Why, you've outdone yourself there, boy!' the Inspector exclaimed enthusiastically; clasping Thordric by the hand and giving it an almighty shake that almost wrenched his arm out the socket. His moustache was wet with tears that he hadn't managed to wipe away quick enough and his lower lip shook slightly with his bottled emotion. 'Lizzie told me about your arrangement with the High Wizard. I…we'll…you'll…you'll be missed, boy.'

  'I've got at least another week left Inspector,' Thordric pointed out. 'Besides, I'm sure my mother would be delighted to have you round for dinner now and then.' He grinned, seeing the Inspector's face light up.

  'She-she would?'

  'Of course she would.'

  'Well, in that case, er, boy…I have an errand for you to run.' He took Thordric into his office and handed him a note out of one of the drawers on his desk. 'Perhaps you could run down to the jewellers when they open and give them this…you can spend the day at Lizzie's after that.'

  Thordric took the note; not bothering to read what was on it because he knew already. He looked wryly at the inspector, but said nothing.

  The jeweller's was only a short walk away and the snow had lessened considerably. When he got there the jeweller took the note without any questions, just a simple nod, and sent Thordric on his way.

  He spent the rest of that day, and the rest of the week, pouring through Lizzie's husband's books with Vey. The ones on plants he found particularly interesting and he took regular walks around the town trying to find the winter herbs that were said to grow. Soon the week was up and Vey went back to the Council. Thordric waited nervously for his summons, not knowing whether they would be the same afternoon or a month from then. He found he was excited.

  Chapter Twenty-One: A Revolution

  The sea of wizards looked on expectantly as Vey took to the platform. He was dressed in silver coloured robes and had the heavy mythril chain of his office strung about his neck, making him look slightly uncomfortable. Thordric stood to the side, wearing the cloak that Lizzie had given him, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Even so, some of the wizards in the front row kept stealing glances at him.

  He hoped they didn't recognise him from their time down at the station, for he had gone to a lot of trouble growing his hair down his shoulders. He'd wanted a small goatee too, but his mother had argued with him for almost two hours over it, saying that it made him look far too old, so he'd given up just to make her calm down.

  He drew his attention back to Vey, who had already begun his speech. His voice echoed across the wide hall and even the deafest of wizards could hear it. The confidence in it made Thordric's own confidence rise, although his nervousness still had him shaking slightly.

  'Members of the Council,' he said. 'Having now become fully affiliated with my position as High Wizard and after reviewing everything the Council has achieved since its conception, it is time for me to reveal to you my plans for the improvement of our conduct and our offerings to the people.'

  The crowd murmured at this, a mix of excitement and disapproval. Vey ignored it and carried on. 'Having discovered the foul plans that Kalljard wished to put in effect— and no, I will not dignify his memory with his title, for he does not deserve it—I wish to begin by changing our view of half-wizards.' He strolled down from the platform and walked along the rest of the stage, meeting them all with his strong gaze.

  'After all,' he continued, 'what do we really know about them; truthfully?'

  'Half-wizards claim they have magic, but everyone knows that is a lie,' one of the wizards near the stage shouted.

  'No, they do have magic, but all they do is cause destruction,' another countered. Others joined in, and the babble grew so loud that Vey couldn't be heard over it. He held up his hands to quieten them and stood back up on the platform so that they could all see him. The hush soon spread throughout the crowd.

  'I believe it is time for me to introduce our newest member.' He turned to Thordric, who was shaking so badly that his cloak quivered. 'Thordric, would you please step up here?'

  Thordric tried to control himself and did as Vey said, taking in every look of suspicion that the other wizards gave him. Once he was up on the platform, Vey whispered something in his ear. Thordric listened attentively, trying to look calm and impressive.

  Pulling up his sleeves, he raised his arms and focused on the walls of the chamber. Colours started spreading down them like a wave, creating swirls and patterns, and brightening the entire room. It spread up the pillars and onto the ceiling, across the floor and along the benches where the wizards were sitting. They watched with their mouths agape and touched the colours now surrounding them, exclaiming with incredulity when it didn't come off on their fingers.

  Thordric's magic didn't stop there, however. The gargoyles along the ceiling jumped into animation, spreading their wings to fly about the room, dive-bombing the heads of the wizards. Wizard Rarn, who had been kept on solely as cleaner, had one chase him out of the room. Everyone could hear his screams echoing back along the corridor. Vey had taught Thordric that trick himself. It was a simple extension of the spell he had used to make the wooden man come to life. This was the first time he had used it properly and he was greatly enjoying the results.

  Out the corner of his eye, he saw Vey make a quick motion with his hand: time to finish the display. Thordric pulled his hands in and the colour drained off the walls to merge in a giant puddle on the floor. He flicked at it and the puddle dried into a multicoloured powder that floated into the great fire grate at the back of the room. The gargoyles all flew back to their positions and became immobile once again, all except for the one chasing Rarn. Thordric felt that it should stay animate for a while longer, just for good measure.

  He shrugged his sleeves back down his arms and stepped back to let Vey carry on. Every wizard in the room was silent.

  'As you can see, Thordric here has quite the talent and I assure you it extends beyond simple tricks like that,' Vey said. The wizards all swallowed at that, every one of them knew that what they had just seen was not simple by any means. 'At just under fifteen, he is also the youngest member ever to be on the Council.'

  'The Council isn't here to babysit! He should still be in training at that age,' one of the middle aged wizards shouted, clearly offended that someone so young would be allowed to join. There were murmurs of agreement from the surrounding wizards.

  'But surely you can see, Wizard Ayek, that the Training Facility could offer him no further instruction?' Vey said. He was looking at the man as though he was an imbecile and Thordric chuckled silently. Wizard Ayek muttered something unintelligible.

  'That is not all that will surprise you about young Thordric here,' Vey continued, pausing to survey the crowd. They were looking up at him, full of apprehension. 'He is also…a half-wizard.'

  Cries of outrage echoed from all sides of the room, but were soon drowned by those of awe and deep revelation. Some of the wizards even stood up and applauded and Vey pushed Thordric forward so that he could take a bow. Thordric breathed in deeply and bent over, closing his eyes with relief. He had expected them to react with anger, not applause.

  'My good members of the Council,' Vey said, his excitement coming out through his voice. 'We are now in a new age, an age where full wizards and half-wizards will be able to train together. We can stop this prejudice, for as you have just witnessed, there is truly no reason for it. Half-wizards have been known to fail at magic, yes. But ask yourselves this: if you had no magical training, would you not fail also? Thordric here was trained by my own mother, who learnt to teach the ways of magic from watching my father, a half-wizard, who put himself in danger trying to focus and control his magic.'

  The wizard who had interrupted earlier, Ayek, jumped up out of his seat. 'You? Our own High Wizard, are nothing but a-a half-wizard? This is outrageous!' He turned desperately to his brethren. 'We have to have another election! Only a full wizard can be High Wizard! If Kalljard had known…'

  'He would hav
e murdered me like he murdered my father,' Vey said coolly. He seemed completely unconcerned by what he had just revealed and Thordric found he was worried for him.

  The wizards around Ayek turned to him angrily. 'Shut up, Ayek you fool!' one of them said to him. Thordric looked at him and realised that it was Wizard Batsu, the young wizard who had helped Thordric at the morgue. 'Hasn't his reverence just shown you that it makes no difference whether he is a full wizard or half? Thordric's magic was more than equal to our own and I don't recall you ever putting on a display like that!'

  More and more wizards joined in and Thordric watched them all in disbelief. This was the Wizard Council; made up entirely of full wizards; who only hours ago had despised half-wizards, and now were…praising him?

  Vey put his hands up again and called for silence. 'I know this revelation has unnerved some of you and those that feel I do not deserve to be High Wizard have every right to leave. Go and be free from the Council, and the new beginning I shall be giving it.' Several wizards stood up to go.

  'Know this though,' Vey continued, watching them. 'That I shall be keeping a very close watch on your activities and if any of you begin to do anything I feel inappropriate, dangerous or illegal, then I will not hesitate to alert the authorities and make sure you are imprisoned for life.'

  Thordric watched with satisfaction as the wizards sat down again and Vey began to tell them of all the other plans he had for the Council. A space was made in the front row for Thordric to sit among them and he did so happily.

  That evening, when Vey had retired to his chambers, he summoned Thordric there to have supper with him. 'What did you think of my speech?' he asked him as he sat down.

  'To be honest, Vey, you scared the wits out of me. I thought they would all revolt against you and carry both of us out of the hall and lock us up for life!'