The Congruent Apprentice (The Congruent Mage Series Book 1)

by Dave Schroeder

  “It can’t be much worse than this,” observed Damon. He drained his mug and wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand to hide his grimace.

  “Fine,” said Eynon. “Could you show me around the kitchen and the larder when we’re finished?”

  “Certainly,” said Nûd. “Then I can take you to your cell.”

  “Excuse me?” Eynon asked. “Is this a school, or a prison?”

  “Calm down,” said Damon. “Students’ rooms are known as cells and have been for decades. It’s a custom.”

  “Oh,” said Eynon. He resolved to keep a closer watch on his tongue until he gained a better understanding of how things were done in the Academy and continued his questions.

  “Where are the other students?” he asked. “And when will I meet the Master?”

  “You’ll meet the Master when the Master wants to meet you, and not before,” said Damon. “I’ve already told you that every half-way trained wizard or hedge wizard left for Brendinas in response to the King’s summons.”

  “My apologies,” said Eynon. “You did.”

  He pushed a link of sausage around on his plate, trying to muster the courage to taste it. To postpone the ordeal, he asked another question.

  “How many people are left in the castle, then?” He was curious to learn how large a group he’d be cooking for and assumed that Nûd had fixed a special late breakfast for the three of them.

  “Just us,” said Nûd.

  “The three of us?” asked Eynon. “And the Master?”

  “Don’t worry about the Master,” said Damon. “He has his own ways of getting fed.”

  “Does he travel to inns in Brendinas to get decent meals?” Eynon joked.

  “Sometimes,” said Damon.

  “But he never takes me with him,” said Nûd in a tone that Eynon wasn’t sure was teasing or serious. Eynon assumed the former and smiled at Nûd, receiving a smile in return.

  Damon leaned back on his bench then reversed course and put his elbows on the table, cupping his chin in his joined hands. He stared at Eynon. Eynon returned his gaze.

  “Do you think he’ll do?” Damon asked Nûd without turning his head.

  “Does it matter as long as he’s willing to cook?” Nûd replied.

  “True enough,” said Damon. “I can already sense magic about him.”

  Across from Damon, Eynon sat up straight and held his head high. For some reason he didn’t pull out the amulet with the blue stone, even though his original mission had been to take the artifact to a wizard to get his assistance. He was afraid Damon or Nûd or the Master would take the amulet away from him, and he didn’t know if he’d need it to try to reach Merry. Besides, Damon was still an apprentice—if a rather old one.

  After a few seconds more, while it felt like Damon was looking into him, not just at him, Eynon decided it was time to move on.

  “What’s next?” he said.

  Nûd and Damon exchanged a glance and smiled.

  “Next, you help me clean up, then I’ll show you how to find your cell,” said Nûd.

  Chee reappeared on top of the trestle table with apple cores in each front paw.

  “I said one,” said Nûd.

  “Chi-cheee,” said the raconette, apparently defending itself.

  “I know they’re small,” said Nûd, “but please don’t abuse our hospitality.”

  “Chee,” said Chee contritely.

  The raconette ran up Nûd’s right arm, crossed behind his head, and jumped from Nûd’s broad left shoulder to his usual perch on Eynon’s narrower one.

  “When you’ve seen your cell, you can meet me in the library and start your training,” said Damon.

  “Won’t the Master be training me?” asked Eynon.

  “No,” said Damon. “I’m responsible for the first stages of training for all new apprentices. It’s supposed to teach me patience.”

  “Patience is a virtue the Master says Damon really needs to work on,” said Nûd.

  “Quiet, you,” said Damon.

  “See what I mean?” teased Nûd.

  “Before we get up,” said Eynon, “I’ve got another question.”

  “Ask,” said Damon. “I doubt I could stop you.”

  “If there aren’t many students—or teachers, for that matter—why is the Academy so big?” Eynon asked. “It’s as large as the fortifications for the Earl of the Rhuthro valley, but I don’t see very many people inside or outside.”

  Nûd answered, not Damon.

  “First,” said the big man, “the Master is the most powerful wizard in all of Orluin. Important wizards need impressive strongholds.”

  “Wizards need towers, not castles,” said Damon. “We’ve been over this before.”

  “Yes,” said Nûd, “but here in the wilderness, a castle provides much-needed defense.”

  “Defense from what, if there aren’t any people nearby?” asked Eynon.

  “Wolves, bears, coyotes, mountain lions…” began Damon in a bored tone, like he’d had this conversation many times before.

  “…and the odd gryffon or wyvern or dragon,” added Nûd with more animation.

  “Not to forget annoying herds of wisents, moose, elk, and pronghorn,” added Damon.

  Something connected in Eynon’s brain.

  “Was your coat made from a wisent skin?” he asked Damon. “I saw one that wandered into the Coombe through the gap at Wherrel and it had the same dark fur around its head.”

  “It was,” answered Damon. “You’ve asked enough questions for now. It’s past time for you to clean up, find your cell, and start your lessons.”

  “Was there a two?” asked Eynon as he stood.

  “A two?” asked Nûd.

  “You said First—was there a Second?”

  “Defense from wildlife was second,” said Nûd.

  “Then was there a third or fourth?” asked Eynon.

  “At one time there were more students and apprentices than there are now,” said Nûd. “When Dâron and Tamloch and the Eagle People were at war, the Academy was bustling. That’s third.”

  “Now that we’re at war again, maybe things will be busier here,” said Eynon.

  “Maybe,” said Nûd. “If the war drags on.”

  “Don’t they always,” muttered Damon.

  “And fourth?” prompted Eynon.

  “Fourth,” said Nûd, “is that sometimes the Academy is used for meetings of the Conclave of Wizards, with every practicing mage in the kingdom attending.”

  Eynon was glad he’d started this line of questions.

  “Is there a fifth, like where Melyncárreg is and how far away it is from the Rhuthro valley?” Eynon asked, pressing his luck.

  “It’s time to clean up,” said Damon. “Get moving so you can clean up, find your cell, and start your lessons.”

  “And start cooking lunch,” said Nûd.

  “Yes, sirs,” said Eynon.

  “Cleanup first,” said Nûd. “You wash, I’ll dry.”

  * * * * *

  Eynon didn’t start his lessons until after lunch. By the time he and Nûd had dealt with the breakfast dishes and the big man had shown Eynon the available cooking utensils and the contents of the larder, it had been past mid-morning. It took still more time for Nûd to escort Eynon to his room. Eynon was reluctant to call it a cell, despite Nûd’s insistence.

  Unpacking took very little time. Eynon determined he didn’t need to carry the shard across his back. He expected the threats inside the Academy would be to his preconceptions, not his body. If he ventured outside again, with the wolves and the wisents, he’d retrieve the weapon. Reluctantly, he left his staff in a corner of the room. Like the shard, it didn’t seem appropriate to
keep it with him indoors. It was cool inside the castle, so he kept his jacket on.

  Nûd showed Eynon how to find his way around the castle, only part of which was technically the Academy. The school itself was an L-shaped collection of buildings to the left of the main entrance, tucked up tight against the castle’s outer wall. The kitchens were below ground, which curiously helped them stay cooler in summer and warmer in winter, according to Nûd.

  Understanding the layout of the castle and the Academy was made easier by a scale model in a room near the library. It didn’t include labels, but it showed top-down views of each level for all the fortifications and buildings except the gray and blue spiral towers. Eynon promised himself he’d come back soon and commit the model to memory.

  “We’ve taken too much time touring,” said Nûd. “Let’s head back so you can fix us lunch, then you’ll have the whole afternoon for your first lessons in wizardry.”

  Eynon didn’t mention that Merry had already started his education in the magical arts.

  “Great,” he replied.

  When they returned to the kitchen, Eynon got a fire going so it would burn down to cooking coals by the time he was ready. He found a deep glazed-ceramic vessel that looked like an upside down bell. With Nûd’s help, Eynon filled it with water from the pump near the sink. The water smelled strongly of rotten eggs. Chee left Eynon’s shoulder and found a perch in the rafters where he could see what was going on without having to smell it too closely.

  “Do you have a wooden whisk?” asked Eynon.

  Nûd produced an implement that looked like a big shaving brush. Eynon began whipping the water vigorously, beating it into a froth. The rotten egg smell increased.

  “Could you help with this?” Eynon asked Nûd.

  “I have no idea what you’re doing, but I’d be glad to,” said Nûd.

  The big man applied the whisk with a will and the sulphur smell grew even stronger. After a few minutes, Nûd’s arm grew tired. Chee descended from the rafters and did his part wielding the whisk and creating lots of bubbles. When the raconette grew tired, Eynon took the bowl and held it up to Nûd’s nose.

  “Sniff,” he said.

  Nûd inhaled.

  “It doesn’t smell nearly as much like rotten eggs anymore,” said the big man.

  “I used a trick I learned from my cousin in Wherrel, back in the Coombe,” said Eynon. “It was his job to beat their cooking water before meals.”

  “I never would have thought of that,” said Nûd.

  “I wouldn’t have either, if my cousin’s family hadn’t figured it out for themselves,” said Eynon. He found a large onion and a bunch of white carrots and began to chop them into small pieces. “What else do you have we could use to make soup?” Eynon asked.

  “I have dried beans and dried peas,” said Nûd. He fetched small canvas bags for Eynon.

  “Thanks,” said Eynon. “Do you have any smoked meat?”

  “There’s half a smoked wisent haunch in the cold pantry,” said Nûd.

  “Please bring me about a pound of it,” said Eynon.

  “Glad to.”

  The big man walked away to fetch the meat. Eynon found a dozen andirons and thick cast iron skewers by the fire. He cleaned them as best he could with sand and a mail scrubber, then put them in the coals to heat. While they were warming, he chopped the onion and the carrots into small pieces and tossed them into the ceramic pot. Then he added generous portions of dried peas and beans.

  “Spices,” said Eynon to himself. “Where would Nûd keep spices?”

  Chee helped Eynon locate the big man’s supply. They were on a high shelf, but luckily, Eynon was tall himself, if not as filled out as Nûd. He put salt and pepper and dried parsley into the pot and transferred several of the andirons and skewers to the liquid inside. They sizzled as their heat transferred. The water warmed and soon the kitchen smelled of something a lot more appetizing than rotten eggs.

  When Nûd returned with the smoked wisent meat, Eynon cut it into pieces the size of the tips of his fingers and added them to the pot as well. The aroma grew even richer as Eynon switched out cool skewers for hot ones to set the water in the ceramic pot boiling. The rich smell of cooking meat drew Chee’s attention and Damon’s, too.

  “What are you cooking?” asked the older man when he entered the kitchen. “I can smell it all the way up in the library.”

  “Soup,” said Eynon.

  “When will it be ready to eat?” asked Damon.

  “In a few minutes,” Eynon replied.

  “Will you have any bread to go with it?”

  “Nûd, do you have any flour?” Eynon asked. “Not the kind you used for the ale-cakes this morning.”

  “That was some old rye flour,” said Nûd. “I’ve got a sack of oat flour in the pantry I haven’t opened.”

  “Please bring it to me, and three or four apples, and some butter.”

  “Glad to,” said Nûd.

  Eynon scoured out a small glazed crockery bowl with the piece of mail, then peeled and cored the apples with his belt knife while the soup bubbled.

  “Trade out the skewers, please, Nûd,” said Eynon.

  While the big man did the switch, Eynon chopped the apples into bits so small they were almost a paste. Then he added in oat flour, butter, and a pinch of salt to make a stiff dough. He cut off a strip of dough and showed the other two men how to wind it around a skewer and cook it over the coals, like he had for his first breakfast several hours ago. Thinking about that meal reminded him of Merry. He hoped she was safe and promised himself he’d try to figure out how to contact her as soon as he could.

  Chee ate the apple cores—except for the seeds—and ten minutes later there were spirals of oat bread to go with generous portions of soup. There was still a bit of an odd taste, but it wasn’t overwhelmingly bad like the meal they’d had earlier. Nûd and Damon were very pleased.

  “I don’t see why you should teach him wizardry when he’s already a wizard in the kitchen,” said Nûd.

  Damon was too busy dipping one of the oat bread spirals in broth to reply.

  “If you won’t teach me how to be a wizard, you’ll find dinner much less to your liking,” Eynon noted.

  Damon winked at Nûd.

  “The lad has many talents,” he said.

  “True enough,” said Nûd. “Why did you cook in a ceramic pot, not a metal one directly over the coals, by the way?”

  “Whatever it is in the water that smells bad doesn’t like metal,” said Eynon. “The people I know in Wherrel mostly cook with green-colored soapstone griddles and vessels. My cousin told me their foul-smelling water can eat right through iron or copper, given enough time.”

  “I’m glad to see you’re an observant young man,” said Damon. He’d finished his bowl and wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve.

  “Thank you,” said Eynon.

  “That was the best meal I’ve had in months,” Damon declared. “Nûd, you clean up—it’s time for Eynon’s first lesson in wizardry.”

  “Don’t get your hopes up,” said Nûd, winking at Eynon. Then the big man turned to Damon. “Be sure to finish in time for him to make dinner!”

  Merry

  Eynon was gone, and so was Chee, the little raconette who’d adopted him. The foolish farm boy had jumped into the well after the even more foolish creature and disappeared.

  Merry stared down into the crystal-clear waters in the well. Eynon wasn’t there. She’d rushed to the stone wall and had reached into the water to help pull Eynon out, but all she’d gotten for her effort was wet. Merry got on her knees and leaned over the low wall. She smacked her hand against the surface of the well water in slow, methodical pulses of frustration. Slapping sounds echoed in the deep cylindrical chamber and circular rip
ples radiated out from where she struck.

  “Don’t waste your time,” said a mellow contralto voice above her. “You wouldn’t want to go where that gate leads.”

  Merry looked up and saw a tall woman with short auburn hair wearing blue wizard’s robes descending the winding stairs. A few moments later, the woman was standing next to Merry. She extended her hands and helped Merry stand. The two women regarded each other at arms’-length. Merry looked at the short-haired woman with imploring eyes.

  “Where did he go?” asked Merry. “And how can I get there?”

  The wizard in blue turned her head from side to side, taking in the young woman before her.

  “First,” she said, “who are you and what are you doing in my tower?”

  Merry pushed back her feelings of shock and tried to deliver an intelligent answer.

  “I’m Merry of Applegarth and Doethan sent me here to find a gateway,” she asserted. Her brain caught up with her ears. “This is your tower?”

  “It is,” said the short-haired woman. “I built it, or rather, I had it built. My name is Fercha.” She extended her hand and Merry shook it, still a bit dazed from what had happened.

  Fercha examined Merry more closely. “You’re one of Doethan’s apprentices?”

  “His only current apprentice, as far as I know,” said Merry. “Do you know Doethan?”

  “We’re acquainted,” said Fercha with an enigmatic smile. “It sounds like someone with you found my gate.”

  “Yes,” said Merry. “Eynon did. He and Chee fell in the well and disappeared.”

  “That is how gates work,” said Fercha. “Different places are on each side, so it seems like anyone walking—or falling—through them has vanished. Who is Chee, by the way?”