Son of the Keeper: Book 1: Principles of Magic

by R. S. Merritt

  That had calmed Nicole down enough to where she was able to act fairly normal around the boy king. She had found out later that Chris had been given the same information by Omasa on the same day about her. Both of them had an inner struggle to not be manipulated that easily by the adults. It was therefore highly annoying to both of them when they found they did really enjoy each other’s company. Both of them were hard working and very intelligent. When they had finally talked about the match making the adults were trying on them they had both laughed it off and kept right on focusing on just being friends. As they began to enter their teens though the romantic undertones of boyfriend and girlfriend were starting to pop up. Nicole was determined to fight those feelings as long as possible rather than have to endure to her mom’s smug smile if she brought home Chris to meet her. She knew she was probably going to lose that battle but at least she’d fight it as hard and long as she could.

  Brent and her finally called it a night and split up to head to their separate rooms. Brent was staying over with his mom and dad in their suites rather than in a dorm room. Nicole had a dorm room reserved for nobility in the girls hall. Brent could barely keep his eyes open as he walked towards his room. He was looking forward to the large bed with the fluffy pillows on it. The room itself was much bigger and nicer than he would have gotten in the dorms. He was missing out on the camaraderie and the relationship building that took place in the dorms though. His old self would have cringed at the thought as he was so bookish that most kids could not relate to him back in his old world. In this new world though he was tempted to ask to be given the opportunity to live in the dorms. The boys he had met here in his studies were all bookish. It was pretty much a universal trait of the boys and girls who ended up on the pure magic tract at the school.

  Brent had already been bumped up significantly in popularity due to being the best friend of the king. He’d lived in Chris’s shadow back at their old school as well when Chris had been starting to be a baseball star and Brent had just been a pudgy kid who loved the library. Chris had always stuck with him back there and he was doing the same thing here even though now he was an actual king of the school. Brent was glad Chris had put him on the portal project. It was fascinating for him. Even if Chris had not mentioned it then Brent would have still probably explored it when he ran across it in his studies. He found the mix of magic and science to be fascinating. He loved the way the numbers and the forces seemed to dance in the air and dare him to understand them. He could almost taste how bad he wanted to force them to do what he wanted.

  His parents were already asleep so he went into his room and put his head on the pillow without even bothering to get undressed. Yet another thing he loved about this new life was that everyone just wore these comfortable robes everywhere. Especially on the island where you didn’t have to worry about maintaining an illusion or any of that. When they went over to the real world he knew he’d have to put on pants again but he wasn’t looking forward to it. He dreamed of stepping though portals and seeing exotic new worlds. People looking up to him because of what he could do by the power of his mind and not just being nice to him because the king and he were friends.

  He woke up before the sun was even completely up and headed back to the library. He figured he’d hit the books before breakfast and then let Nicole know what he had found. No reason for her to have to wake up early as well. When he got to the library Nicole was already there. So much for his gallantry in not trying to make her wake up too early.

  “I couldn’t sleep. I feel like there is way too much stuff for us to learn and that the time for learning is too short. I piled some more books for you on the table. I figure those should take you most of the day and then I’ll find you more tonight to keep you going after dinner. That way you can stay focused on your studies and I’ll stay focused on making sure you are studying the right stuff and you don’t have to waste your time looking for it. Make sense?”

  Brent nodded. It made a lot of sense actually. He kept forgetting that Nicole was at least as smart or smarter than him and Chris. He’d grown up in a world where the only other kid who was even close to him in intelligence was Chris so that was still taking some getting used to. In his classes he’d gone from being bored and knowing way more than everyone else to struggling to keep up with the other students on some of the concepts.

  “Ok. Let me know what you need to study and I’ll set up tutoring sessions and things like that. We’ll get Chris to talk to Lacosta and put you on a special program of study. That will get us authorized to keep your head being filled up with the stuff you need to know instead of a bunch of extra stuff. Sound good? Get to it. I set you up with some breakfast over on that table over there so you don’t need to leave until lunch unless one of the regular classes you have this morning would be useful?”

  Brent shook his head no. He didn’t have anything really going on this morning he needed to get to. Nicole gave him a smile and admonished him to get to learning and then left. Brent picked up a roll and some cheese off the plate and settled in to start learning more about the way stars impacted the motion of planets and the forces of magic.

  Chapter 22: The Counsel of The Council

  Chris arrived back at the island escorted by his high protectors. He left them on the tarmac and headed for the library to see if he could find Nicole and Brent. On the way there he ran into Lacosta. The stately witch walked over to him and asked him casually about the mission he’d just been on. Chris answered her without giving up any real information. That is when Lacosta started politely informing him that she felt he may be taking unwarranted risks with his life and that maybe he should focus more on his studies. Evil would still be around when he graduated after all.

  Chris felt the opposite but he did his best to placate her before moving on. Chris couldn’t stand the idea of evil dwelling on the same planet he was on for one more minute. He was looking forward to Randall bringing him the reports detailing the locations of evil across the globe so he could see to it that it was eradicated. In the meanwhile he had entrusted a huge part of his plan to Brent and Nicole. If they could not control the portals then they’d be at the mercy of the horde. Waiting for an overwhelming force of invaders to attack them didn’t seem like a great plan.

  Chris arrived at the library right as lunch was commencing. Looking up toward the locked door to the inner library he saw Brent emerge. Smiling, Chris bounded up the stairs to greet him and see how it had been going in his absence. He had Brent open the library back up and show him around and show what he was working on studying. Chris had to fight back the urge to sit down and dive into the books himself. Like Brent he loved the pure math and science pieces of the portal puzzle. He also knew he had the potential within himself to open these portals. He was a bit jealous of Brent since without putting in the hours like Brent was doing Chris knew it would never be safe for him to try and create a portal by himself.

  Once Brent had filled him in on what he had been working on and how Nicole had been helping by putting together a syllabus and gathering info on instructors who could help Brent asked how it had gone with Chris. Not wanting to repeat the story twice Chris told Brent they should find Nicole and take a lunch out to the cliff and he’d tell them both the whole story. They left the library together and headed for the main hall. Nicole was walking in the hall with a small group of friends when she noticed Chris and came running over to him. She gave him a friendly hug and demanded to know where he’d been and how it had worked out.

  Chris let her know the plan to talk it over by the cliff and they all went and grabbed food to go. Lots of students grabbed a meal to go in order to find someplace quiet to study or just to relax for a few minutes. The meals were lined up in picnic baskets along the back wall and had little signs over them spelling out what was inside of them. Once removed from the dining hall the picnic baskets would make their way back to the dining hall by themselves about two hours after they were removed. A very useful bit of cafet
eria spell craft that had taken a group of student charmers an entire year to get to work right.

  Once they had their baskets and were out by the cliff Chris told them what he’d been up to. He didn’t leave anything out. These were his friends and confidants and they’d already promised one another not to reveal each other’s secrets. On top of everything else they were doing for him Chris was most appreciative that he had these two he could trust to keep his secrets. When he wrapped up Nicole asked him if he planned to go on every single raid moving forward or if he was going to start sending raiders out without him. Chris wanted to go on every raid but that would slow down the process of getting rid of the main sources of evil if they had to take him with them every time. He was still thinking about the best way to accomplish that.

  “If you’re planning to involve more people then you probably need to come up with at least the outlines of a plan by tomorrow. My uncle is coming to the island and I assume it’s a reaction to the battle in Ireland and maybe even to this raid you just pulled off. If my uncle is coming then the rest of the council is probably going to show up as well. Remember they’re the ones who are supposed to be in charge so you running all over the place being all kingly isn’t sitting too well with them. Especially since you’re barely out of diapers as far as they’re concerned. It’s starting to make sense to me how come royals have a much shorter lifespan than everyone else.”

  “Thanks Nicole. I know the council thinks I’m way too young to be doing any of this. I just have this feeling that time is short and we need to prepare faster than we are. I’m not sure I have the luxury of sitting around and attending class and waiting for five years before taking the trials.” Chris tried to impart the sense of urgency he felt on Brent and Nicole. Brent felt like Chris felt that way because he had just been introduced to the magical world and the evil that was in it. Nicole had grown up her whole life with the threat of the horde hanging over her head but knew that threat had been there since they first came to this world a couple thousand years ago. She personally didn’t see why Chris couldn’t relax and focus on his studies for the standard five years before he would sit the trials.

  “Oh.” Nicole had obviously just remembered something. She put down the baked chicken leg she had been picking at. “I’ve made a list of instructors for Brent to learn about the basics of what he needs to grow into being a portal master. Seeing how it is still illegal to go too far down that path and he could be executed for it I was thinking you may want to let some people know what you’re doing and what you have Brent doing so he can avoid being executed and get some help if he needs it.”

  “I’ll let the council know tomorrow assuming they really do want to speak with me. I’m going to need to make a list. Anything else exciting happen while I was out?”

  They talked about the happenings around school for a while. Simple matters about which teachers assigned to much homework and the boys who kept trying to ask Nicole’s sister out. Nicole mentioned her parents had asked her to extend an invitation to Brent and Chris if they would like to come visit their manor in Canada over a break. They both said that sounded like fun. They talked for so long that the picnic baskets started sliding themselves back to the dining hall. They chased them down to put their utensils and such back in the baskets then split off to go their separate ways. Brent was headed for the library and Chris and Nicole both had different classes to attend.

  Chris settled into a chair in the main lecture hall where he was attending classes about the history of the Xandians. He’d always been fascinated by history and now that his ancestors were featured prominently in the history books he was studying it was even more fascinating. It was pretty obvious why the royals never seemed to live very long. Each of their sagas basically ended with them in a heroic last stand against the horde. None of them had a death wish but all of them put their people first. There were a lot of perks that came with being a royal but the enormous responsibilities greatly outweighed those perks. Chris enjoyed watching the instructor nervously glance towards him as he went through some of the less majestic acts some of the royals had been responsible for. Not all of them had been cut out to be able to shoulder the responsibilities they’d been handed.

  When class was over Chris walked out of the room and right into the instructor. The short bearded wizard bowed deeply to Chris.

  “Your majesty. I was asked to let you know that you’ve been invited to dine with the council tonight. They’ll have a messenger meet you and escort you to the councils chambers if that is good for you?”

  Chris acquiesced that would work for him then asked the instructor what it was like teaching the class with a royal in the room.

  “Well sire, it makes it a little awkward when you go from teaching a history class where some of the nobility have children in the class to having a student whose ancestors basically are the class. I hope you don’t get offended easily as some of your ancestors have behaved in ways that history has revealed not to be in the best interests of anyone.”

  Chris laughed. “I’m pretty sure the same can be said for any family tree. There’s always a few rotten apples. Most people don’t have to sit there and watch their friends write papers about why there grandad was an idiot though. No worries, I’ll do my best to learn from their mistakes and press on. I have been wondering about the royalty thing though. What happens if a whole family of royalty dies out? Like if I got hit by a bus what would happen?”

  The instructor smiled. “Well. Your majesty that has happened in our history. Not for a very long time but it has happened so there is precedent. You know that royalty in our society equates to the family with the greatest potential for magic. A family where the children have to pass all three trials. If one family line dies out then the council would convene and select the top families to be tested and the ones who passed the test with the highest marks would become the new royalty.”

  That made sense to Chris. He thanked the instructor and moved on to his next class. The next class was another interesting one. Chris had requested that an instructor from each of the schools of magic spend an hour with him to give him a summary of what they were able to do and then answer his questions. Chris wanted to understand the capabilities of his people. He also wanted a clear understanding of how everyone fit into this society and how their society itself fit into the larger world picture.

  He walked into the classroom and was met by Wessel.

  “Did they run out of good instructors?” Chris asked. Wessel smiled and produced a metal spike from out of nowhere which he hurled across the room to stick into the wall next to the kings head.

  “They’re going to make you pay to get that hole fixed you know.” Chris and Wessel both busted out laughing. They laughed even harder when the knight who had been following Chris around at a distance burst into the room with his sword drawn trying to figure out why Wessel was throwing spikes at the king’s head. The knight seemed to be considering if Wessel could be possessed or something as he did not lower his sword until Chris stopped laughing long enough to ask him to please resume his post out in the hallway. Chris had grown used to having an escort follow him at a distance. He’d come to appreciate it even more as he learned in the history class that royal after royal had been killed not on the battlefield but in bed or in a bathroom by an assassin.

  Chris and Wessel had already had long conversations around what Wessel did and how he did it. A lot of people had martial as well as mage potential. If they had enough of both to make it worthwhile they often ended up as warlocks or battle mages. Chris thought of these mixed warriors kind of like someone who was enough of an athlete to make it onto an NFL football team but was also a Rhodes Scholar. He’d seen Wessel in battle and knew that this warlock was the real deal. He understood what Wessel did and how he fit in so he decided to use his time to get a better understanding of some other things he was still curious about. The stuff everyone around him seemed to consider common knowledge and looked at him like he was an idiot
if he asked. Wessel asked him what he’d like to talk about today.

  “I‘d like to know more about the trials and what they are and when you take them. If we get that taken care of then I’m very interested to know what you know about how we fit into the rest of the world. I’ve heard the regulars know we exist but only at the highest levels of government and the military. So if we could go over some of that I’d be interested.” Chris sat down at one of the desks and Wessel grabbed a seat and pulled it over.

  “I wouldn’t be too worried about the trials if I were you. You’ve already done more since you’ve been here than most people have to do for the trials. They’re subjective in a sense. The instructors who know you best will fashion a scenario you need to get yourself out of. Succeed and you’ve passed. If you don’t succeed you could die. Not many people die. Each trial you face will challenge the key skills you’re being tested on. For the martial you could be dropped into a pit with a couple of those giant spiders and a spear. For the mixed maybe the spiders have shield charms on and then for the magic it might just be shield charms smothering you. Make sense?”