Carlana gasped. She hated heights, was terrified of falling. “That’s four stories off the ground! And the courtyard below is cobblestones. He would have been killed. Why was he trying to escape? Didn’t he know he is an honored guest?”
“When he awoke, he heard a couple of the duke’s foolish maids gossiping, and thought he was going to be thrown into a dungeon, and likely hanged, as a bandit who tried to kidnap Ariana.”
“He saved my daughter!”
“Yes, and I told him not to pay attention to gossip. As regards his health, he is recovering well, and I fed him a broth of beef and vegetables.”
“And some pastries, Lord Salva?” Carlana pointed with a sly smile to the streak of cream down the front of his robe.
“What?” The court wizard, his dignity injured, looked down in dismay. He had rinsed his face in the washbasin in Koren’s room, but neglected to check his robe. “The pastries were, er, very tempting. For now, the boy is in a deep healing sleep.”
“Very well.” Carlana wearily pushed her reddish hair away from her face. “Who is this boy, this, wizard?” She added the last slowly.
“His name is Koren Bladewell, a farm boy from Crickdon.” Paedris shook his head. "And, yes, a wizard."
“Hmm, Crickdon is in Winterthur province, not all that far to the northeast of here.” Carlana pursed her lips in thought. “A peasant? Well, Ariana wants to grant him a knighthood, and I agree with the sentiment, but-“
“No knighthood! Calling any attention to this boy would be a terrible idea. There is a complication, that I had not considered. The boy has not had any training as a wizard, which is why I didn’t know about him. This boy does not know he is a wizard!”
Carlana tilted her head quizzically. “He doesn’t know? Are you sure he’s a wizard?”
“Yes, yes, there can be no mistake about it. He stopped that bear, without having any idea how he did it. The- the very air, around where the bear attacked Ariana, was crackling with raw magical power, I could actually taste it, it leaves a metallic essence lingering, for a wizard’s senses. Which reminds me, we need to start a rumor that I was with Ariana when that bear attacked. The amount of power Koren used is like ringing a bell heard far and wide to a wizard, the enemy cannot have failed to detect it. If the enemy learns I was not there, then Koren will become a focus of the enemy’s attention. I cannot explain how the Wizards’ Council knew nothing about this boy. He has had no training, that is certain, his power is raw, uncontrolled, a danger to himself and everyone around him. We have here a dilemma: the boy is now too old for another wizard to shape his power into something he can control, and he is still too young to control such power himself. ”
Carlana was still confused. “How could he not know he’s a wizard? Your Council is supposed to identify wizards when they’re very young.”
“I believe the Council has sent wizards through this boy’s home county, I can’t explain how we could have missed this boy, especially a boy this powerful. As to how he could not know,” Paedris shrugged, “strange things happened around him, and since no one thought he could be a wizard, the people in his village figured he was cursed with bad luck, that he is a jinx. In his last jinx accidents, he destroyed the village’s only grain mill, and the baron of the county exiled him. Then, apparently, his parents became afraid of him, and abandoned him in the woods one night, he’s not seen them since. That’s why he was living alone in Yarron’s hunting reserve, surviving on his own.”
“His own parents abandoned him? That’s terrible! If he doesn’t realize his own power, is he dangerous?”
“I am afraid he is. I need to watch this boy, keep him close and watch him, until he is old enough to be trained. If the enemy were to learn of him, learn that we had a wizard of his power, untrained power, I believe the enemy would stop at nothing to capture him, and use him for their purposes. We cannot allow that to happen.”
Carlana sighed. Paedris and her army captains were always telling her what a threat the enemy was, always urging her to strike first, before the enemy was ready for war. Carlana intended to do nothing that might endanger Tarador before Ariana took the throne. As Regent, she was a caretaker, and she would take care, and not be goaded into rash military actions. “What can we do?”
“I can cast a spell, to block the boy’s ability to project magic. It will be temporary. But he won’t be able to work magic, not until I know he is ready. Until then, we cannot let him know he is a wizard, lest he try to use his power, or tells others of his power.”
Carlana rubbed her temples with her fingertips, and sat in the overstuffed chair beside the bed. The headache which often plagued her, from the enormous pressure of serving as Regent, was coming back. To hear that the boy who saved her daughter was a wizard, a powerful wizard, was the last thing she would have expected. “You’re going to conceal his power from him? Deceive him?”
Paedris nodded gravely. “Magical power is far too great a temptation, for one so young. Do you know of any thirteen year old boy or girl, who would not use such power, if they knew it was within them? We cannot risk the enemy learning of Koren’s immense power, until he can use it to defend himself.”
The Regent let out a long breath. “Lord Salva, the Wizards’ Council is responsible for this boy not being discovered. If he had been found when he was much younger, he would never have suffered being called a jinx by his neighbors. His family would not have been forced out of their home. His parents would not have abandoned him, they instead would have taken the bounty, and be living a life of luxury, while Koren served his apprenticeship as a wizard.” The bounty, for any parents of a child discovered to be a wizard, was two hundred gold coins, plus another three hundred golds when the young wizard completed training and accepted service to Tarador. Five hundred gold coins is an unimaginable fortune for poor farmers, enough that they would never have to work for the rest of their lives.
“Instead, this boy has been cheated of the life he should have had, because the people responsible,” she paused looked Paedris straight in the eye, “failed him.” Carlana often disagreed with her court wizard, and sometimes she didn’t quite trust any wizard, but she had never before questioned his, or the Council's, competence. "You are now going to compound the insult by deliberately misleading him?”
Lord Salva, who had been a master wizard for many years before Carlana became Regent, and never, until now, felt defensive about his abilities, was momentarily at a loss for words. Instead of stammering out nonsense, he nodded, and stroked his beard while he considered what to say. “I, certainly, understand your point, Your Highness, however, I do not see that there is anything else to be done, at this point. There is nothing for it but to continue to conceal the truth from him, for a few more years. I would like to take him to be my servant, I must keep a close eye on the boy. Is that acceptable, your Highness?”
Carlana hesitated. “You say the boy is dangerous, yet you wish to bring him to the royal castle with us? Isn’t that inviting trouble?”
“Koren is not a jinx. As long as his power is blocked, there will be no further incidents, I can promise you that.” Paedris needed to have a long, serious, and likely uncomfortable talk with Dragotil, the wizard who was assigned to Winterthur province. Dragotil was a wizard of no great power, and, Paedris feared, apparently no great concern for carrying out his duties. If Dragotil had been carrying out his responsibilities properly, he would have discovered Koren’s power when the boy was a toddler. Perhaps it was time for Dragotil to be given another, less important task. “And now I must cheat him again, for I dare not tell him the truth, until he is old enough to begin controlling his power. As long as he is with me, there will be no jinx incidents around the boy.”
“Then I agree he should become your servant, Lord Salva. Ariana already wants to invite the boy to come live with us in the palace.” Ariana had so few true friends to play with. The Dukes who ruled Tarador’s seven provinces all wanted Ariana to be friends with their own children, and
none of them cared about Ariana the girl, only Ariana the crown princess. The reason they were now at the castle of Duke Yarron, of LeVanne province, was so Ariana could meet, and grow familiar with, the Dukes who would be her vassals when she became queen. Carlana was always anxious when they were away from the royal palace, even while guests of a strong ally like Duke Yarron. There was too much danger to be found wandering around Tarador, even without magic-charmed beasts seeking to feast on royal blood. Carlana was skeptical of her wizard’s claim that the bear had been magically compelled by their enemy to attack her daughter, she thought it more likely the boat had interrupted the bear’s fishing for its breakfast. Still, it would be good for her daughter to have a true friend, a friend who had already proven his loyalty and bravery. It was almost not possible to believe the boy was the powerful magical force Paedris claimed his to be. Yet, he had saved the crown princess, when the royal guards could not. “I shall have to think of a way to explain to my daughter why she can’t grant this Koren a knighthood. I’m afraid she is quite taken with her rescuer.” Carlana sighed. “Why is life so blasted complicated?”
“Life is-“
“Paedris, that was me complaining, it doesn’t require an explanation.” Carlana said irritably. She did not enjoy the responsibility of being Regent.
Paedris considered explaining things to a thirteen year old princess to be a trivial matter. “The question we should ask is, what does it mean, that we find a wizard of such power, in such a dark time of need? It cannot be a coincidence that this young man arrives in the same place, at the same time, as a creature sent by the enemy.”
Carlana walked over to the window, gazing out across Duke Yarron’s fields. “How long before the boy can travel? I wish to return to the palace as soon as possible, if the enemy has sent assassins to kill my daughter.”
“He should be out of bed tomorrow, and if he can travel in a carriage, and he is careful not to exert himself, he could leave in the next day. I agree you should depart soon, but I will not be coming with you. I need to follow the trail of that bear, if I am able, and see where it leads. For an animal, a large bear, to be controlled by such a powerful a spell, there must have been a wizard somewhere with a few day’s distance. I do not like the thought of an enemy wizard being in our territory.”
“And then the bear rose up, like this,” crown princess Ariana raised her arms over her head, her fingers curled like claws, “and it roared RAAAR!”
The girls seated on the floor around her squealed.
“But the boy wasn’t scared at all. He stood right up in front of the bear, without even a knife in his hand, and that bear ran away!”
“Ooooh!” The girls exclaimed.
“He is the most bravest boy in the whole kingdom-“
“The most brave, or the bravest, Ariana, speak properly, please.” Carlana admonished as she swept into the room. The other girls rose to their feet and curtsied to the Regent.
“Hello, Mother. The most brave, then. I shall grant him a knighthood!” Ariana, announced, excited. She picked up a hairbrush and gestured as if it were a sword.
Carlana acted quickly to stop her daughter’s foolish plans. The last thing Paedris wanted was for anything to draw attention to the boy. “There will be no granting of knighthoods, at least not until you are queen, Ariana. And knights must be boys from good families. This boy is a commoner.” She clapped her hands. “Time to go, girls, the princess needs to rest.”
Ariana pouted as her friends hurried out the door. “I feel fine, mother, Paedris healed me. See, not even a scar.” She pointed to her forehead, where only the faintest red bruise showed where she had bashed her head on a rock in the river. “I really can’t make him a knight?”
“No,” Carlana said, not being entirely truthful. There were exceptions for granting knighthoods to commoners, for bravery in battle. “Lord Salva has offered to accept the boy as his servant.”
Ariana knew a job as servant to the royal wizard was something few commoner boys could hope for. “He will live in the castle with us, then?” She asked, excited.
“In the castle, yes, not with us in the palace. He would live in the wizard’s tower. Don’t get your hopes up, young lady.”
Ariana thought for a moment. “If I can’t grant him a knighthood, can I give him a medal for bravery, and a feast in his honor?”
“No medal, and no feast.”
“No feast? But, but Mother! That’s not fair!” Ariana sputtered.
Carlana sighed. “Ariana, try to think like the queen you will be, instead of like a girl. Lord Salva believes that bear was sent by the enemy to attack you. We can’t let the enemy know they almost succeeded. As far as most people know, you went boating, and hit your head when you fell out of the boat. There will be no mention of this boy.”
Ariana pouted, her lower lips stuck out. She’d been imagining a feast in his honor, with the boy wearing fine clothes, and him kneeling while she touched his shoulder with a sword, and named him Sir whatever-his-name the Brave. “It’s not fair. He saved my life! Three times!”
“If you want to do something nice for him, perhaps you should consider whether it would be healthy for the him to let the enemy know who stopped that bear.”
“Oooh.” Ariana touched a finger to her lips. “I didn’t think about that. The enemy would be angry with him.”
“Yes they would, and that is never healthy for anyone. The best thing you can do for this boy is to let him remain unknown, and bring him to the castle, where he will be under our wizard’s protection.”
“If he lives with the wizard, where will his parents live?”
“Ariana, not every child is blessed to have parents who care for them.” Carlana sat down facing her daughter, and took her hands in her own. While Koren’s magical power must remain a secret, she should tell her daughter how the boy had come to be living in the woods alone. “Let me tell you about this Koren Bladewell boy-”
"I'm fine, truly I am, Lord Salva." Koren protested. "Look," he added as he balanced on one foot, "I feel fine. You healed me amazingly, sir." He was fairly itching to get out of the luxurious bedchamber, it looked like a beautiful day. Outside the window, he could hear children kicking a ball around, having fun in the fresh air. After spending months living outdoors, exposed to the elements and dreaming of shelter, he now couldn't wait to get outside again.
It was hard to believe it was only yesterday that the wizard has rescued him from the roof, and his life changed in ways Koren could scarcely have imagined. Koren didn't know whether to be disappointed, or relieved, that there would not be a feast in his honor; he had been very nervous about which fork to use. He'd seen a few people use forks, of course, at the Golden Trout Inn, but he, and most people he knew, ate with a knife. Perhaps the wizard had been joking, if wizards ever did that? Koren didn't want to take chances on that, Paedris still seemed great and terrible to him.
He was absolutely disappointed that he hadn't seen the princess again, and didn't dare to ask the wizard if he was ever going to see her again, for commoners didn't expect royalty to pay attention to them at all. When he closed his eyes, he could picture her face, that most beautiful face, even wet and terrified as she had been when their eyes met, that day she fell into the river. It was likely, Koren thought, that he would never see Ariana again, except from afar, if he was lucky to be in the castle as she was passing by. Still, how many farmboys from Crebbs Ford had ever met the future ruler of Tarador? Exactly one, he thought with at least some satisfaction.
Paedris hadn't told Koren, because Koren hadn't asked, that Ariana had been pestering the wizard, and her mother, because she wanted to see Koren. To thank him, personally. But mostly, truthfully, just to see the handsome young man who had saved her life. The wizard had firmly informed the princess, through her mother the Regent, that Koren needed to rest and recover fully, and that the princess should do that same. Not that Paedris expected the princess to listen to him, but she did listen to her mother.
"Mmm, yes, very impressive, young man." Paedris responded distractedly, glancing at Koren's balancing act while the wizard was measuring herbs for a potion. "You still need to heal, which I can tell by the simple fact that you slept nearly until noon today. This potion..... will, hmm." The wizard held an herb bottle up to the window. "I haven't created this particular potion in several years. Koren, can you tell me what that books says, it's open to the page I need."
Koren walked over to the book, and was silent for a minute. The wizard looked over at him; the boy's lips were moving, and he was tracing words on the page with his fingertip. Paedris was embarrassed for the boy, who apparently could not read, and felt terrible that he had thoughtlessly put Koren on the spot. "The boy can't read." Paedris whispered to himself. He should have considered that many farmboys never learned to read! "Oh, don't bother, you don't need to-"
"It says one measure willow bark, two measures of, uh, does this say chamomile? I'm sorry, sir, this handwriting is terrible. Can you read this?"
Paedris scratched his head. "That could be chamomile, I think that's right. Darn it, I can't read my own handwriting." He chuckled ruefully.
"You wrote this, sir?" Koren exclaimed, surprised. Wizards had to write with their own hands, like everyone else? Koren had imagined pens dancing magically across the page by themselves, while the wizard cast spells, or whatever they did.
"A long time ago, apparently, but now I remember the formula. Which is good, because you're right, I can't read this either. You're handy with a pen, then?"
"I'm no scribe, sir, but I can write well enough, if you don't need anything fancy like prayer books have."
"Fancy is what I don't need. Plain, legible script is what's required." Then the wizard had an idea. "One thing you can do for me, when we get to the castle, is copy some of my old potion books, so they're more readable." By copying the potions, Koren would be learning them, which would be good training, without Koren knowing he was being trained. Paedris was pleased with himself for thinking ahead. "What about mathematics? Do you have any of that?"
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