by Priya Ardis
“Vivane has volunteered to train you on swords. He is the finest swordsman alive today.”
“Vivane!” Matt burst out. “Aurelius, I would speak to you right now.”
Aurelius sighed. With a nod, he looked at Marilyn. “Candidates, you will get your welcome kits from Ms. Marilynn. Then, please follow her on the tour of the school. It will be most enlightening for you to see what we do here.”
The candidates shuffled off towards Marilyn.
I saw Vane trying to slink off out of the room. I marched over to him and cut him off before he reached the glass door leading outside.
“You could have saved my mother.” I thrust a finger hard into his unyielding chest.
Vane leaned down until his lips grazed my ear. “I debated coming in at all.”
I pushed him away. “Why did you?”
“I had to know about you.” His eyes slid over me. His gaze rested on the necklace Sylvia had given me. “You were hard to read. I should have realized it was purchased magic obscuring the truth.”
“You are unbelievable,” I said. “Matt was right about you.”
“Was he?” he drawled. “But really, you shouldn’t believe everything my brother says.”
“Matt—”
Vane laughed. “Is that what you think his name is?”
I frowned. “What?”
“If you’re going to make it as a candidate, you must figure out who you can trust,” Vane said. “Let me help you out. What do you know about Arthur? He pulled the sword from the stone. He founded a great kingdom. He became a legend. But someone else besides Arthur became just as famous. If Arthur was the puppet, he was the puppetmaster.”
“Yes,” I said steadily. “I know who you mean.”
Before I could blink, Vane grabbed me by the waist and turned me to face Matt. Matt pulled at his jacket in frustration as he argued with Aurelius. I noticed he wore skater-punk shoes.
Vane whispered, “Vasana.”
With a gimmicky zap, a costume appeared on Matt. He wore a blue-felt robe with white stars. On his head sat a matching pointed hat. His face had aged to look about a hundred years old. A long white beard extended from his jaw to his feet.
Vane said against my ear. “Now, let’s put it together. One, he was a wizard. That is true. Two, he was old. That is false. Actually he was about…oh, say, eighteen. During Arthur’s time, he would have been considered a mature adult, but not so much now. Three, he always thought he knew best for everyone. Know anyone like that? Four, he was considered the most powerful wizard of all time because…he could see the future. What is his real name?”
Matt broke off talking to Aurelius. Looking down at himself, he cursed.
Matt said, “Vasana-apte.”
It must have been a counter-spell because the cartoon-wizard disappeared. Matt returned to normal. Matt glared at Vane. “You’re an ass.”
“And you always make things hard for yourself.” Vane let go of me with a chuckle. I barely noticed him leave. My eyes were glued on Matt.
“Tell me it’s not possible,” I said.
“Ryan—”
“Oh, G-God.” I clutched my stomach. Even after the trauma of drinking the water, this new betrayal hit just as hard.
“I’m sorry,” Matt said beseechingly. The deep pools in his eyes stretched into infinity…or a thousand years or so.
I made a mewling sound. Hearing my distress, Grey left the other candidates and crossed the room. He grabbed me by the waist.
“What’s going on?” he demanded. “Matt?”
Bile bubbled inside me like bad stomach acid. It climbed up my throat and burnt through my nostrils. I had trusted Matt. We had all trusted Matt.
I turned to Grey. “His name is not Matt. His name is Merlin.”
CHAPTER 8
THE MOST FAMOUS WIZARD
The candidates, including Vane’s, realized something was going on and came over.
My voice rose hysterically. “He lied to us.”
Aurelius walked to us.
“It is past time to introduce myself properly,” Matt announced. “Things have been hard enough to explain, so I did not bother with this piece. However, I do hope after what you have seen today, you will believe me when I tell you the truth about myself.”
His eyes met those of the candidates without wavering.
“My true name is Emrys. Throughout history, though, the name has been known by a slightly different translation used by Arthur and his knights. I was known to them as Merlin.”
The red-haired girl with spiky hair asked, “Are you a vampire or something? Like an—” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “—immortal?”
“No, I’m not a vampire or immortal,” Matt—no, Merlin—said. “Vane and I fought a long time ago. We happened to be near the Lake of the Lady. Our fighting caused an explosion. We both became trapped. Entombed in a cave. Frozen in time. Until a disturbance woke us a few years ago.”
“A disturbance?” Oliver said.
“I’m not sure what it was. I have a feeling the Lake knew it was time. That the Sword would appear again.”
“So you’re not a vampire?” the red-haired girl repeated. She sounded disappointed.
“Not at all,” Matt quipped.
“Shouldn’t you be talking in medieval English or something?” Grey said skeptically.
I looked at him in surprise.
“I did pick up a few things from you,” Grey explained.
Matt smiled with good humor. “Good question. But you forget I am a wizard. I have an ability to learn at an accelerated speed. Also I’m quite good at mimicking.”
“But—” another candidate said.
Aurelius held up a hand. “I can confirm Master Merlin’s tale. We have protected the tomb for over a thousand years.” He glanced at the candidates. “No matter how it came about I think we can all agree that having Merlin on our side is a good thing.”
I glanced around at the crowd behind me. Pretty much all of the candidates were murmuring with awe. Even Grey was looking at Matt with new respect.
“Candidates, please follow me,” Marilynn called us to attention. She marched to the converted hotel check-in desk and turned on a computer monitor. The candidates dutifully gathered around her.
Matt tried to get my attention. I shook my head. There wasn’t much left to say.
I walked to the crowd of candidates. Marilynn rattled on about the history of the school. Apparently it had been around for a long time. She went through a list of people who had graduated from the school, several politicians and celebrities. I would have cared, but there was only one famous person spinning around in my mind.
He had gone from bad-ass boy on a bike to ultra-powerful wizard to someone completely out of my comprehension… someone completely out of my league. My hands fisted. Why did I even care about the rotting bastard?
Grey sensed my melancholy and threw an arm over my shoulder. I leaned into him. Marilynn gave me a sardonic look as she passed out black cases to everyone. I opened mine to find an iPad inside. Several candidates whistled. Despite my agitated state, it impressed me too. Maybe wizard school wasn’t going to be as lame as I had thought.
“All of your schedules and assignments will be done on these,” Marilynn explained. “The whole school is on these. We’ve had them for awhile now.”
“Niiice,” Oliver whistled. “I thought magic didn’t work with electronics.”
Marilynn let out a laugh. “You’ve been watching too many movies. Magic doesn’t work on them, but it doesn’t mean we can’t use them. I don’t know about you, but how these techs work seems like magic to me.”
“Yeah,” several candidates laughed.
“Your class schedule and other various apps you will need have been downloaded into these. You will all have the same schedule since you are in what we call a special training program separate from the rest of the school.”
“Does it have a name?” Oliver asked.
“The Exca
libur program,” Marilynn said with cheek. “When students start here, they are given titles. They are called apprentices. You will be addressed as pages.”
“A page?” I asked. “You mean as in the page to a knight?”
Marilynn nodded. “You are training to be a knight after all.”
“I thought I was training to be king,” Oliver muttered.
“Arthur didn’t become king because of the Sword. That’s a myth. He used it to maintain his kingdom. There’s a big difference.” Marilynn held up an iPad. “Back to the here and now. This also has your sleep assignments—”
“When do we get sorted into houses?” a Regular candidate piped.
“No houses,” Marilynn suppressed a smile. “We have a simple system. Girls are in Morgan Hall. Boys in Monmouth House.”
There was a sound of disappointment from a few of the guys. “No girls in the showers?”
“Sorry, you’re not here for that kind of learning.” Marilynn walked to the glass doors. “Now, if you will follow me, we will do a quick tour of the school grounds. Class starts tomorrow.”
As soon as we stepped outside, I gasped.
Soft sun shone down on a misty cathedral at the opposite end of a football-field length courtyard. The cathedral had a long pointed tower with beautiful rose and ivory stained glass windows. Pink-petal flowers and deep green ivy climbed the stones from the ground to the cathedral’s roof. A large fountain stood in the middle of the courtyard with water falling from several lion’s heads. Between the misty air and rolling slope of the earth, the grounds reminded me of a long lost fairy tale.
More buildings made up the rest of the rectangular courtyard. The huge garage which we’d seen from outside stood to the right. Buildings had been spaced up and down the rectangle all connected by a ten-foot-high wall of grey stone. No one would be wandering into the school by accident—or wandering out.
Marilynn walked us along a covered veranda that curved all the way around the courtyard. She pointed out several buildings that consisted of classrooms. Students sat around on the grass. Most were busy punching things on their iPads. Some played soccer on the grass. It would have looked like an ordinary school, but then I saw someone float the soccer ball towards the goal. From the groans of the other team, this seemed to be an acceptable way to score.
“The cathedral holds the Great Hall. It is where we hold all of our gatherings. It is also the gymnasium. You will spend a great deal of time in there for your physical training.” Marilynn pointed to a plain-looking building next to the cathedral. It had a huge clock high up on its face. “That is the Council building. It houses all the members as well as your teachers.”
The clock chimed loudly when the hour turned. It reverberated through the long courtyard. A sea of students spilled out of the buildings. We stopped to stare at them.
“There are so many,” Grey muttered.
“The school is much larger than what you see when you drive up,” Marilynn replied.
Grey watched the students playing with the floating soccer ball.
“Alexa would have loved this,” I said to Grey. He nodded.
We had almost completed the circle around the courtyard when Marilynn signaled for us to stop again. She pointed at twin stone buildings. “Morgan Hall and Monmouth House are right next to each other. The dining hall is connected so you will be eating together.”
The dormitories were not as ornate as the cathedral, but they had a lot of windows. Lion stone rainspouts stuck out of the corners as a marker for each floor. I counted five.
“Before I leave you to get settled in, there is one more thing.” Marilynn handed us badges. They were small cloth discs containing a stitching of a dragon. “This marks you as part of the Excalibur program. You will notice all of the other students with similar badges. These mark what your skill area is. For those of you who are wizard candidates, you will receive other badges as your powers become defined.”
“What are the different badges?” Oliver asked.
Marilynn shook her head. “You will find out more when you have your first class tomorrow. Boys, please follow me into Dragon House. Girls remain here until I return.”
She and the boys walked off. Which left me alone with the sole other girl. It seemed odd just to stand around without speaking, but I struggled to find something to say to her. I didn’t really want to ask about her vision. I felt bad enough for just watching the brutal beating. No wonder the girl looked out she’d gotten out of rehab just a few weeks ago.
I asked what I hoped was a simple question, “How did you meet Vane?”
“I was doing cage fighting for some lowlifes. He got me out. I thought he was trying to buy a good time, you know, but then he showed me what he could do. Magic. Said I could do it too.” Her hair swung like spiky icicles as she shook her head. “How wild is that?”
“Wild,” I repeated. “So you don’t want to get the sword?”
Slouching against a veranda column, she frowned at me like I’d asked something dumb. “Of course, I do. Why wouldn’t I? It’s the ultimate power. Whoever gets it will be famous.”
It took a minute for me to digest what she said. “Do you really think everyone will know you pulled the sword?”
“After the Total Tremor, they can’t very well hide it, can they? Everyone in the world knows about it.” She kicked her foot. “Whoever gets it will never get put down again.”
For a second, she dropped her tough persona, and vulnerability shone clearly on her face. It was obvious Vane had made some grand promises to his candidates.
At least Matt hadn’t done that. I chewed my lip. Matt hadn’t talked at all about what would happen after someone pulled the sword. Becoming famous didn’t sound like a good idea to me. More questions Matt—no, Merlin—had conveniently skipped answering.
I looked at the girl. A pang of pity filled me. She reminded me of a lost puppy at the pound. “You’re risking your life just to be famous?”
The girl straightened away from the column. “Aren’t you?”
I shook my head. “The gargoyles were after us. We had no choice.”
A red eyebrow lifted. “If you say so.” She grinned and her gaze turned to the courtyard. The soccer match had become a semi-wrestling match with a group of guys. “You have to admit though, it’s not so bad here.”
I smiled. It was the kind of statement Alexa would have made.
Marilynn came out of the building. She pointed us to the other building. “Ms. DuLac. Ms. Cornwall. Let’s go. I will introduce you to the head of the residence hall. She will explain the details of the arrangement.”
Turning on her heel she strode into Morgan Hall. I hurried after her. The other girl followed slowly. The minute I stepped inside Morgan Hall I felt at home—maybe because the country chic décor matched Sylvia’s study in Boston almost perfectly. I wondered what Sylvia would say if she saw it. I had a feeling she had no idea how deep the Ragnars’ ties to the wizard world went.
Marilynn led us past a spacious living area with huge couches and an enormous plasma screen TV. She stopped at a small office tucked into a far corner of the first level. “Ms. Joseph, I have new students for you. Arriane DuLac and Georgiana Cornwall.”
A stout woman with round glasses and rosy cheeks sat behind a desk. She was watching news coverage of the sword on her flat screen LCD. She reluctantly turned away from it when we entered the office. She gave us a brisk once-over.
“My name is Ryan—”
“I’m Gia—”
We both burst out at the same time. I smiled at the red-haired girl. She grimaced.
“That’s all well and good,” Ms. Joseph held out two keycards. “Ms. Fay didn’t inform us that we needed a room until this morning, but everything is ready. You will share. We have four to a room here, but since you are joining late in the semester there will be only two of you. The card has the room number. You can show yourself to the room. You’ll find a welcome package on your bed with some essentials. Oth
er than that, please show up promptly to meal times. Food will not be kept waiting for you if you miss it.” She finished with a shooing motion. “That is all. Go on now.”
“Aren’t you going to show them the common areas?” Marilynn asked.
“I’m sure they’ll figure it out,” Ms. Joseph said. “The girls are old enough. We don’t need to coddle them, Ms. Fay.”
Marilynn’s face twisted into a mask of frustration. “Fine, I suppose I can show them.”
“Uh hum,” Ms. Joseph said turning back to the TV. We’d taken a few steps outside when she stopped us. “Wait. Is he back, Ms. Fay?”
Marilynn turned back. “Who?”
“Don’t be coy, Ms. Fay,” Ms. Joseph said. “You attended his lectures just like the rest of us before he left…and it wasn’t to hear him speak.”
Marilynn turned red. “I don’t know what you’re talking about—”
“Merlin, of course.” Ms. Joseph sighed like a little girl. “I never imagined someone like him being so handsome. Do you know when he’ll start his lecture series again? I get asked about it every day, you know. There is a list of witches eager to sign up. It’s not just the student witches either. I’ve been talking to Sir Calvin over at the teachers’ residence—”
“Ah, yes,” Marilynn cut her off. She glanced at me. Then away. “I will ask him, but I don’t know if the lectures will happen. He is quite busy.” She nodded at Ms. Joseph’s monitor. “You can understand why.”
“Yes, of course.” Ms. Joseph sighed in disappointment.
“Merlin taught here?” I asked.
“Oh, yes,” Ms. Joseph replied. “When he first woke, the Council brought him here right away. He taught here for a little bit—” She lowered her voice. “—before he had the visions. Then he set off on the hunt.” She let out a girlish sigh of longing. “It was the best lecture series we’ve ever had. He’s so young for being so wise. I could listen to him for hours. Of course, I don’t remember exactly what he said. It was how he said it. You must remember, Ms. Fay. You always sat right in the front row.”