The Magic Thief

by Sarah Prineas

  “You’re up,” he said.

  I nodded. Lady uncurled herself from the hearthstone and padded over to me, purring. I set down my boots and sat beside the fire so she could climb into my lap.

  “You going to put those on?” Benet said. I looked up. He was pointing at my boots.

  “They’re too small for my feet,” I said. The black sweater fit better, too; I must have grown while I was in bed.

  “You’ll have to have new ones,” Benet said. He set aside his bowl of apple slices and started rolling out pastry.

  So Benet thought I would be staying at Heartsease. I wasn’t so sure Nevery would agree. Without a locus stone, I couldn’t be his apprentice anymore, and he knew I wouldn’t be a servant. And I wasn’t a thief or a lockpick; I couldn’t go back to living on the streets of the Twilight.

  “Master Nevery said if you were up today, you should find him at the academicos library.”

  But I wouldn’t be able to get through the tunnel gates to reach the academicos. Drats.

  “He left a keystone for you.” Benet pointed with a floury finger at my coat, which hung from a nail beside the door. The stone was in the pocket, I guessed.

  “Thanks,” I said. I pushed Lady off my lap and got to my feet and, after putting on my coat, went down the stairs and outside. The sun shone brightly and the air smelled fresh, though it was still chilly. All the snow had melted. The big tree across the courtyard was empty of birds, but the twigs at the ends of its black branches were tipped with red, swelling buds. Winter was over, at last.

  Which was a good thing. I wasn’t used to being barefoot. Crossing the courtyard, the cobbles felt cold and wet under my feet.

  I walked slowly through the tunnels, using the keystone to get through the gates. The magic leaped from the stone to the locks, fresh and sparkling. The magical being was feeling better, I figured.

  Before climbing the stairs to the academicos, I had to rest, leaning against the tunnel wall. I got to the top of the stairs and stopped to catch my breath. Across the courtyard, gray-robed students were standing in groups, talking and playing games, basking in the end-of-winter sunshine. Rowan left a group and came over to me; she was wearing her gray student’s robe and carrying her book bag.

  She gave me a hug. She was only a little taller than I was, I realized; I really had grown. I rested my head on her shoulder for a moment.

  She stepped back and looked me over. “I see you’ve decided not to wear your shoes, Connwaer.”

  “My feet are too big for them,” I said.

  “Mmm-hmmm,” she said. “My mother would like you to come and see her.”

  All right. But now I had to find Nevery in the library.

  We turned to walk across the courtyard to the academicos. As Rowan and I passed, the students stopped what they were doing and stared. I put my head down and kept walking; Rowan raised her chin and looked proud and sharp, like the first day I’d met her.

  We went up the stairs and inside.

  Brumbee was standing before his office, speaking with Periwinkle. When he saw us, he left her and came over.

  “My dear Conn,” he said, smiling. “So glad to see you’re feeling better. We were all quite worried.” He looked down at my feet. “I see you’re not wearing any shoes…?”

  “My boots are too small,” I said.

  “Ah. Well, I’m sure Nevery will see to it. Now, as soon as you’re well enough, we expect to see you back in your classes again.”

  He did?

  “I have class now,” Rowan said. “I’ll have somebody row me to Heartsease later to catch you up on what you missed, all right?”

  “Thanks,” I said. Rowan smiled, hefted her book bag over her shoulder, and left.

  Brumbee beamed. “Good! Now, Nevery is up in the library, if you’re looking for him.”

  As I climbed the stairs to the library, the academicos students started streaming in from the courtyard for their first class, chattering, filling the gallery with noise.

  I opened the door to the library, went inside, and closed it. Nevery was at a table near the window. At the sound of the door closing, he looked up and nodded.

  I waited by the door while he gathered up his knob-headed cane and a canvas book bag, buttoned up his robe, put on his hat, and came across to meet me.

  We stepped out into the hallway. A few students edged past where we stood, shooting us curious, sideways glances.

  Nevery leaned on his cane and frowned down at me. “Well, come along,” he said. He turned and started down the stairs, step step tap, step step tap.

  I followed, but didn’t say anything.

  We came to the front entry of the academicos and went out and down the steps to the wide courtyard. All the students had gone in.

  Nevery dropped the book bag at his feet and cleared his throat. “You look like you should still be in bed.”

  I wrapped my arms around myself. Even though the sun was warm, the breeze from the river was chilly. “I’m all right, Nevery,” I said.

  “So you keep saying, boy. But I don’t think you are.”

  I looked down at my bare toes.

  Nevery sighed. “You lost your locus magicalicus.”

  I nodded.

  “And your boots, apparently.”

  “I’ve grown out of them,” I said.

  “Yes, I expect you have,” he said. With his cane, he poked the bag at his feet. “Look in there.”

  I went down on my knees and rummaged in the bag. “This?” I held up a book.

  “No,” Nevery said. The breeze gusted, and he clapped his hand to his head to keep his hat from blowing away. “The robe.”

  Every wizard and apprentice wore a robe; all the students at the academicos had one, too, like Rowan, gray with a patch on the sleeve which indicated their family or house. In the bag, among the books, a wax-stoppered bottle, and a few stray papers, was a robe. I pulled it out, stood, and handed it to Nevery.

  He handed it back to me. “It’s for you, boy,” he said. “You’re a student and an apprentice. You need a robe.”

  Oh. I took off my coat and slipped the robe on over my sweater. Its gray wool was moth-eaten and spattered with scorch marks, and the ragged hem brushed the ground. On one sleeve was a patch, embroidered in faded blue thread with the same hourglass with wings symbol that was etched into the stone before the Heartsease tunnel gate and stamped in gold on the front cover of Nevery’s chronicle of locus stones.

  Nevery leaned over and touched the patch. “The wingèd hourglass. My family’s crest.”

  The robe had been his when he was a student.

  Carefully, I buttoned the front of the robe and rolled up the sleeves, which hung down over my hands.

  “One thing I’m sure as sure about, Conn,” Nevery said, his voice gruff. “You are a wizard, and you will find another locus magicalicus.”

  I took a deep breath. Yes. Yes, Nevery was right.

  I was a wizard. I would study at the academicos and learn every spell I could, and I would try to convince the magisters that the magic was a living being. And one day, if I didn’t find a locus magicalicus in Wellmet, I would go out into the world to search for it.

  “Well, my boy,” Nevery said. “Let’s go home.” He set off across the empty courtyard, and after a moment I followed.

  I ran to catch up. “Nevery,” I said, “I think I’m going to need a room to work in.”

  He strode on. “A workroom, boy?”

  I nodded. I had a lot of work to do. I didn’t have a locus magicalicus, so I’d have to figure out a way to get the magic’s attention so I could talk to it and it could talk back to me. “I’m going to need slowsilver, too. And tourmalifine.”

  Nevery paused at the top of the stairs leading down to the tunnel and shot me one of his keen-gleam looks. “But when tourmalifine and slow-silver mingle, boy, they explode.”

  I grinned. Yes, Nevery, I know.

  A GUIDE TO

  WELLMET’S

  PEOPLE
AND PLACES

  * * *

  PEOPLE

  BENET-A rather scary-looking guy, but one who loves to knit, bake, and clean. His nose has been broken so many times, it’s been flattened. If he were an animal he’d be a big bear. His hair is brown and sticks out on his head like spikes. You wouldn’t want to meet him in a dark alley, but you would want to eat his biscuits.

  CONNWAER-Has shaggy black hair that hangs down over his bright blue eyes. He’s been a gutterboy for most of his life, so he’s watchful and a little wary; at the same time, he’s completely pragmatic and truthful. He’s thin, but he’s sturdy and strong, too. He has a quirky smile (hence his quirked tail as a cat). Conn does not know his own age; it could be anywhere from twelve to fourteen. A great friend to have, but be careful that you don’t have anything valuable in your pockets in reach of his sticky fingers.

  NEVERY FLINGLAS-Is tall with gray hair, a long gray beard, shaggy gray eyebrows, and sharp black eyes. He’s impatient and grumpy and often hasty, but beneath that his heart is kind (he would never admit it). Mysterious and possibly dangerous, Nevery is a difficult wizard to read, but a good one to know.

  PETTIVOX-Very tall and broad, with white hair and beard, very white teeth, and red lips. He’s Keeston’s master. Conn dislikes them one both.

  ROWAN FORESTAL-A tall, slender girl of around fifteen, with short red hair and gray eyes. She is very intelligent with a good, if dry, sense of humor. She is the daughter of the Duchess. She is also very interested in studying swordcraft.

  THE DUCHESS-Willa Forestal is Rowan’s mother and they are physically similar. She is a woman who bears a lot of responsibility, and it shows. She is highly intelligent but doesn’t have a sense of humor, as Rowan does. The Duchess controls the Sunrise area of Wellmet, and she dislikes magic (though she realizes its necessity to the survival of Wellmet).

  * * *

  * * *

  PLACES

  ACADEMICOS-Set on an island in the river that runs between the Twilight and the Sunrise, the Academicos is a school for the rich students and potential wizards of Wellmet. Conn enrolls there after becoming Nevery’s apprentice.

  DAWN PALACE-The home of the Duchess and Rowan. The palace itself is a huge, rectangular building—not very architecturally interesting, but with lots of decorations crusted on it to make it fancy.

  DUSK HOUSE-The home to Underlord Crowe. This fortresslike building is oppressive with narrow windows and a massive underground labyrinth. Dusk House is guarded by hulking minions. To enter without an invitation is a death warrant.

  HEARTSEASE-Nevery’s ancestral island home. The middle of the house was blown up by Nevery’s pyrotechnic experiments twenty years before this story. So the two ends of the house are left standing and the middle looks like it has a bite taken out.

  MAGISTERS HALL-Seat of power for the wizards who control and guard the magic of Wellmet. It is a big, imposing gray stone building on an island with a wall built all the way around it at the waterline.

  * * *

  WELLMET RUNIC ALPHABET

  * * *

  In Wellmet, some people write using runes to stand for the letters of the alphabet. In fact, you may find some messages written in runes in THE MAGIC THIEF.

  BENET’S BISCUITS

  2 cups all-purpose flour

  ½ teaspoon salt

  4 teaspoons bee’s wing (baking powder)

  2 teaspoons sugar

  ½ cup butter

  2/3 cup milk

  Preheat oven to 450°F. Mix dry ingredients together in bowl. Cut in butter until fine and crumbly. Make a well in these ingredients and pour in milk. Knead with your fingers only until blended—do not overwork or biscuits will be hard and flat. Roll to one knuckle thick and cut in rounds. Place on greased pan, and bake until golden brown (12 to 15 minutes). Best eaten hot, with butter and honey.

  * * *

  * * *

  CONN’S BISCUITS

  Put in bowl:

  Some flour

  A bit of water

  Riser

  A pinch of salt

  A hunk of butter or lard

  Mix up very well with wooden spoon. If it’s watery, add more flour. Mix some more. Plop into pan, put pan in coals to bake for a while. Best eaten hot, with butter and honey.

  * * *

  THANKS TO…

  Jenn Reese for her generous friendship and for believing in the power of story.

  My agent, Caitlin Blasdell, and my editor, Melanie Donovan. And to the team at HarperCollins: editorial assistant Greg Ferguson, editorial director Phoebe Yeh, copy editor Kathryn Silsand, designer Sasha Illingworth, artist Antonio Javier Caparo, and the goddesses of subrights, Camilla Borthwick, Jean McGinley, and Joan Rosen.

  Sandra McDonald, Chance Morrison, Charlie Finlay, Toby Buckell, Dave Schwartz, Elizabeth Glover, Heather Shaw, Lisa Bradley, Deb Coates, Rachel Swirsky, Christopher East, Melissa Marr, Dean Lorey, Patrick Samphire, Tim Pratt, Paul Melko, and Steph Burgis (most especially), and a quadruple espresso thanks to Greg van Eekhout for hugely inspiring pep talks, for doodling on the manuscript, and for encouraging my bacon habit.

  Anne and Ward Bing, and Anne Hankins. Warm and sunny thanks to Pat and Frank Hankins. And to my dear Theo and The Maud.

  And most of all, thanks to John, best husband in the world. And yes, best critiquer, too.

  Praise

  “Sarah Prineas’s vivid descriptions made me feel as if I was walking right next to Conn, her young resourceful hero.”

  —D. J. MacHale, author of the Pendragon series

  “Thief-erific! Magic-tastic! Biscuit-tacular!”

  —Ysabeau S. Wilce, author of FLORA SEGUNDA

  “An uncommonly engaging young narrator kicks this debut fantasy ahead of the general run.”

  —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

  “What works wonderfully well here is the boy’s irresistible voice.”

  —ALA Booklist (starred review)

  “A delight to read…sure to draw avid fans back for more.”

  —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)

  Credits

  Cover art © 2008 by Antonio Javier Caparo

  Cover design by Sasha Illingworth

  Copyright

  THE MAGIC THIEF. Text copyright © 2008 by Sarah Prineas. Illustrations copyright © 2008 by Antonio Javier Caparo. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  Adobe Digital Edition March 2009 ISBN 978-0-06-185230-5

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  About the Publisher

  Australia

  HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.

  25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)

  Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia

  http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au

  Canada

  HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

  55 Avenue Road, Suite 2900

  Toronto, ON, M5R, 3L2, Canada

  http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca

  New Zealand

  HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited

  P.O. Box 1

  Auckland, New Zealand

  http://www.harpercollins.co.nz

  United Kingdom

  HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

  77-85 Fulham Palace Road

  London, W6 8JB, UK

  http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.uk

  United States

  HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

  10 East 53rd Street

  New York, NY 10022

  http://www.harpe
rcollinsebooks.com