Azrael's Twins

by V. J. Mortimer

  ‘You wouldn’t do that, would you?’ giggled Niamh.

  ‘Oh yes!’ said Devin brightly. ‘He has such trouble getting them to remetarial ... retemerialise ... to reappear. It’s so funny!’

  ‘But isn’t that a bit mean?’ said Niamh.

  ‘Well yes, I suppose it is a bit,’ said Devin. ‘But he does ask for trouble some times. He hangs out with the strangest bunch of kids at school – all the weird ones that no one else likes very much or that aren’t very good at magic or sports – they’re all a bit geeky but they’re harmless enough. They don’t have strong enough magical powers to be able to do much damage even if they crept up on you.’

  Niamh thought for a moment before replying. ‘You know he was very friendly showing Grady and me around the castle the other day. He didn’t seem very odd then.’

  ‘Yes, well I expect that even the odd ones can be nice when they want to. Anyway, hurry up or we’ll be late back into class!’ said Devin, racing on ahead.

  They were indeed almost late. As they skidded to a halt in front of their classroom door the bell rang for a second time signalling the start of the next period. The statue of the princess on guard outside creakily turned her head to give the children a ‘Tsk Tsk’ sound with a rueful shake of her head before smiling and telling them to get inside before she shut the door, locked them out, and left them to be found by Ms Maladicta as she prowled the corridors looking for latecomers.

  By the time the children finished school that day they were well and truly worn out. The lessons hadn’t been hard in themselves but trying to keep up with the little ways magic was used – such as changing colours on the iWand pen function, floating paper and books around the room, Niamh having to watch out for Emily magically flicking bits of paper at her when she wasn’t looking, or Grady having to magically sop up the paints that Hugh kept trying to spill over his art work – all conspired to leave the children thoroughly worn out by the end of that day. After the final bell went and the students started to file out of the classrooms and corridors, Niamh and Grady met each other at the front entrance. As they walked out into the afternoon sunshine Ms Maladicta materialised out of the shadows giving both children such a fright that Grady dropped his broomstick and Niamh let out a big squeak of shock.

  ‘Nervous little things, aren’t you?’ she said with that slightly malevolent tone with which she seemed to be able to imbue every statement.

  ‘I ... I ... just didn’t, umm wasn’t ...’

  ‘Able to complete a sentence?’ finished Ms Maladicta who smiled at Niamh’s discomfort. Then her face broke out again into that thin but warming smile she had given Niamh earlier in the day. Niamh wondered if the fierce principal front was simply an act to scare the newcomers. ‘So how did you find your first day, my young royal family?’

  ‘It was really good fun. But we aren’t much good at magic yet so it was a bit hard,’ said Grady, sounding a lot more confident than the principal made him feel.

  ‘Yes, I heard you had a bit of bother a few times today – especially playing Trees I think it was, Master Grady? You are going to have to be a bit quicker at stopping or you’ll have been turned into a tree so many times people will start nicknaming you Forest.’

  Niamh giggled at that but stopped quickly when Ms Maladicta turned her gaze towards her. ‘And I hear you made quite a ... splash ... with the water horses, young lady,’ said Ms Maladicta, smiling at what she thought was a funny play on words.

  ‘Well I hadn’t expected they would do that,’ said Niamh defensively. ‘In fact I didn’t know we even had water horses until they turned up!’

  ‘They are quite exciting, aren’t they,’ said Ms Maladicta. ‘It’s certainly one way to get yourselves noticed on your first day, I must say.’ Looking up from the children Ms Maladicta saw Merritt and Grace heading towards them along with Murdock. The children thought that the principal was staring at their parents but then they realised the slightly dreamy look in her eyes was reserved for Murdock. Niamh giggled when she realised the severe-looking principal they had in front of them was not quite as nasty as she seemed. While she had been gazing at Murdock her features had softened and Niamh saw a younger and much less hard woman. At the sound of Niamh’s giggle the principal suddenly realised she was staring and gave a little cough as she composed herself. As she did so her features hardened up again and she gave Niamh one of her withering looks before smiling back at the children’s parents.

  ‘Malignata,’ said Murdock, acknowledging the principal with a bow of his head.

  ‘Murdock,’ said Ms Maladicta haughtily. ‘How nice to see you. We rarely have your presence grace our grounds these days.’

  ‘You rarely have a new prince and princess starting at your school every day though, do you?’ said the elf, smiling back.

  ‘How have they been today, Ms Maladicta?’ asked Grace.

  ‘Well, your son seems to have an odd ability to work out how to do the classroom bonding spell without being given permission to, and your daughter is the talk of the school for getting the water horses to bow to her, but other than that they’ve had a pretty normal sort of day.’

  ‘Grady!’ gasped Merritt. ‘Did you really do the bonding spell by yourself?’

  Grady nodded back with a wry grin on his face as if he knew he shouldn’t be happy about it all.

  ‘High five!’ said Merritt enthusiastically before getting a jab in the ribs from a plainly embarrassed Grace.

  ‘Hey! What was that ...’ started Merritt before he realised he was in trouble. Looking back at Grady he tried to give him a scolding look. ‘I mean ... that was very silly of you, Grady. Don’t try and do anything like that again.’ Grady realised he had got off lightly that time so tried to nod meekly.

  ‘Their teachers tell me they have done well today in their schoolwork but I have the feeling they will sleep well tonight,’ said Ms Maladicta.

  ‘I’m sure they will,’ said Grace. ‘Come on kids. Ready for a dragon ride?’

  ‘Yeah!’ they yelled in unison as they charged off down the path towards the gate.

  ‘Thank you Ms Maladicta for keeping an eye on them,’ said Grace. ‘I’m sure they will be very happy here once they settle into the routine. We’ll see you tomorrow.’

  ‘My pleasure,’ said Ms Maladicta with a grin on her face that hardened slightly into a squint at Merritt – no doubt for his support of Grady’s errant magical behaviour with the statue. As the trio turned to go Ms Maladicta called out, ‘Murdock – will you stay for a moment. There’s something I need to talk to you about.’

  ‘Go on ahead,’ said Murdock to Grace and Merritt. ‘I’ll only be a moment.’

  As the parents walked on down the path Murdock climbed the steps to stand beside the principal. ‘It’s as you thought,’ she said earnestly. ‘They have some amazing powers but they have no idea at all how to use them properly.’ Murdock listened intently as she related the story of the statues and the water horses. ‘And just as you thought, the other children here are not too happy about it all. I don’t think it will be long before we have one of those little “incidents” that you seem to think might be a good thing.’

  The elf didn’t talk for a few moments as he considered the information. ‘Well it sounds no worse than I expected and no better than I could hope for. If this doesn’t work then I really am going to have to give it up as a lost cause.’

  ‘Are you sure you don’t want to tell their parents what you’re doing?’

  ‘Positive,’ nodded Murdock. ‘Grace would hate me if she found out what my plan is, but if we don’t do this for the children’s good then none of us will be able to protect them.’

  Ms Maladicta looked troubled for a moment. ‘If what you say about them is true Murdock, then it’s not the children that will need protecting – it will be us that will need to be protected from them.’

  As the children headed out the gates they saw Quinn slouching by the front gate with a battered-looking broomstick in hand a
nd patched leather bag slung over his shoulder.

  ‘Hi there,’ said Niamh brightly. She was wondering why the boy who seemed so happy back at the castle looked like a different person when he arrived at school. The eager energy he radiated when showing the children the library and especially the underground caverns was completely absent from the diminished figure they saw at school.

  ‘Hi,’ said Quinn in return, but without much enthusiasm. ‘So how was your first day then?’ he asked. ‘Get a hard time from any of your classmates?’

  ‘No,’ said Grady, taken aback. ‘Why would we? They were all really nice!’

  ‘Give it some time,’ said Quinn, looking serious and concentrating his gaze on Grady. Niamh could almost feel the boy’s eyes flash angrily from under the fringe which fell across his forehead, casting a dark shadow. It seemed as if his gaze was in two places at once – staring at Grady and Niamh at the same time. But in a moment it was gone and the slightly downcast look of a timid boy replaced the scary looks of a few moments before. Grady seemed not to have noticed the moment and had already started heading out to the dragon coach at the roadside.

  Murdock stepped up beside Niamh, placing himself in between her and Quinn. ‘Would you like a lift home, boy?’ said the elf.

  ‘No thanks.’ Casting a glance towards Niamh he swung his leg over his broomstick. ‘See you later maybe,’ he said, before adjusting his satchel over his shoulders and floating out of the gate. As he did so a couple of other boys raced past him clipping his back with their wands making him almost fall off his broomstick. ‘Come on, wobbly! Is that all you can do on that old thing of yours!’ Regaining his balance Quinn gave Niamh another glance before turning for the castle and lifting slowly off from the roadside.

  ‘He’s had a tough life, has that boy,’ said Murdock. ‘Losing his parents like he did when he was so young hurt him.’

  ‘In what way?’ asked Niamh.

  ‘He used to be quite a happy young child. But then his parents were killed by a rogue dragon that crashed into their carriage and then flamed it until there were only ashes left.’

  ‘That sounds awful!’ said Niamh. ‘How did he survive?’

  ‘To this day no one knows. He was found beside the ashes unconscious. Since then he’s never been happy despite living up at the castle and having a life up there that not many people get to live. Did you know your grandfather the king pays for everything for him?’

  ‘No, I didn’t!’ said Niamh. ‘Why do you think he does that?’

  ‘You’d have to ask your grandfather that question. But Quinn owes him a debt – not that you’d know by the way he acts around the place. Why he rides that old broom is anyone’s guess and he could ask for a dozen bags but he still uses that patched-up messy thing he carries around.’

  ‘Come on Niamh! Home time!’ called Grace from the carriage.

  Walking back to the carriage Murdock gave Niamh a warning. ‘Just watch your back with him though. He can be very nice and charming but you need to remember round here that not everyone is what they seem to be. Okay?’

  Niamh nodded, though she didn’t really know what Murdock meant. Everyone seemed so nice to them. How could Quinn or anyone else be a danger? Mulling this thought over in her head she headed over to the carriage and climbed in.

  ‘So how was it, sweetie?’ asked Merritt.

  ‘Pretty amazing, Dad – in fact, I don’t really know where to begin. This is just so amazingly cool! Did Grady tell you all about the water horses?’

  ‘Do you think you’d have been able to stop him?’ smiled Grace.

  ‘Oh Grady! That was my story!!’ said Niamh angrily. ‘Why do you always have to spoil my fun?’

  ‘Sorry Niamh,’ drawled Grady, though he didn’t sound very convincing.

  As the carriage climbed away from the city Grady pointed to several other clusters of broomsticks and dragons on the ground and asked, ‘Who are they, Dad? Those ones down there, and over there?’ he said, pointing at two other distinct groups.

  ‘That’s a couple of the other schools round here, Grady. Flamville College is the one over there,’ said Merritt, gesturing to the cluster in the north. ‘And Sandune College is out there by the beach,’ he said as he pointed out to the coast.

  ‘What about that one down there?’ asked Grady, pointing over to the base of the hills.

  ‘That’s Titania College. Most of the children who go there are either elves or of elvish descent, but they are the ones who don’t really like to mix too much with us. They don’t dislike humans and other magical folk but they like to keep to themselves. Can you see how their buildings wind up into the trees?’ Squinting a bit in the afternoon sun the children could just see how what they had thought were oddly coloured trees were actually platforms and stairways wound around and through the boughs and branches of a stand of huge forest trees unlike most of those around them. ‘You’ll get to meet some of them soon enough if you take up any school sports. Did you play on your broomsticks much today, or try any of the archery games?’

  ‘Not today,’ said Grady, a little ruefully. ‘To be honest, Dad, we’re rubbish at magic compared to most of the kids at school. I thought we’d be heaps better than we are but it’s like the stuff we did with the unicorn and getting here doesn’t count for anything. And even though I could make the bonding spell by myself I can’t even do basic levitating spells like the first years can!’

  ‘I wouldn’t worry too much, Grady,’ said Grace. ‘I’m sure by the time the week is out it will have started to feel a whole lot better for you. You have to remember most of the children here have been casting spells since they could walk, so you’ve a bit of catching up to do.’

  ‘I hope so, Mum,’ said Niamh. ‘Everyone looks at us like we’re something strange or weird. The only nice ones are the kids from the castle like Bree and Devin and Emily. Everyone else seems too scared to even want to talk to us.’

  ‘Well it’s not every day they get a new prince and princess in the school, Niamh,’ said Merritt. ‘Can you imagine how they feel having to talk to royalty AND children that have come from the other side? They are probably a bit scared of you, do you think?’

  ‘Dunno,’ said Niamh with a non-committal shrug of her shoulders and eyes downcast. ‘Maybe.’

  ‘Just wait, sweetie,’ said Merritt, pulling her close for a hug. ‘I’m sure the week will get better.’

  But the week did not get better for either Niamh or Grady. Every day seemed to be the same story. Classwork was great with both the children showing they were every bit as smart – if not smarter – as the rest of their classmates. And most of lunchtime with their friends was fun with visits to the water horses, more magical games (and Grady did get better at casting shields), and even broomstick races around the forest course that ran along the river, through the wood and back into the stadium. Niamh was pretty much always last despite giving it every bit of effort she could. Both the children thought they could feel eyes watching them everywhere they went, whispered discussions in corridors that suddenly broke up when either of them appeared, and worst of all – groups of the nastier boys and the mean girls seemed to follow them around if they were by themselves.

  On the last day of their first week at school Quinn called out to Niamh as she was heading back to class. ‘Niamh! Hold up!’ Devin and Emily giggled as Quinn came running up to them in his lanky uncoordinated manner.

  ‘I’ll catch up with you in a minute,’ said Niamh, turning to her friends.

  ‘Okay, but don’t be late to class,’ said Bree with a sly grin, tossing her hair as she trotted off down the corridor with Devin and Emily in tow.

  ‘What’s up?’ said Niamh, feeling slightly uneasy about talking to Quinn here at school. She had seen him almost every day back in the castle but the boy he was here was not the relaxed confident boy he was back at the castle. He made her nervous whenever she saw him here.

  ‘You need to watch yourselves,’ he said, after the girls had run out o
f earshot.

  ‘Pardon?’ said Niamh, quite surprised at his abrupt tone. ‘Do you mean the girls and me?’

  ‘No. You and Grady. I heard some of the older boys talking about you two. They reckon you’re not all that everyone says you are, that you’re rubbish at magic and they are going to teach you a lesson about what real magic is all about.’

  Niamh didn’t know what to say! What on earth did he mean?

  ‘How? Did you hear what they were planning?’

  ‘No. I only heard them in the locker rooms during PE. They might just be trying to talk big but they sounded pretty serious. When they realised I had overheard them they gave me a couple of whacks, strung me up from the rafters, and told me not to say anything, but I figured you needed to know.’ As he said this he lifted his head and pulled back the fringe from a big black bruise around his right eye.

  ‘Oww!’ said Niamh. ‘That looks sore!’

  ‘It is a bit,’ said Quinn, dropping the fringe and lowering his head to hide the bruise.

  Without thinking Niamh pulled her wand from her pocket and waved it around Quinn’s head.

  ‘Hey! What the ...’ he started to say before a sudden rush of wind ruffled his hair and swirled around Niamh too. In a moment it was gone and Niamh lowered the wand.

  ‘How does that feel?’ she asked Quinn

  Putting his hand to his eye the sallow youth lifted his head and felt the puffiness had left his face. The bruise which had been there moments before had gone with no mark remaining. ‘Much better ...thank you,’ he said, with a surprised tone in his voice and a look of astonishment in his eyes. ‘How did you do that?’ he asked.

  ‘Not really sure, to be honest,’ said Niamh, slightly startled at what she had done. ‘I imagined I could see your eye as it should be and not how it was and let the magic flow into it.’

  ‘Well whatever you did, that was pretty cool,’ said Quinn.

  Niamh just smiled back and then said; ‘Well if someone is about to try and teach us a lesson, it’s nice to know, so one good turn deserves another.’