he could feel the cold being pushed from his very bones, warmth filling his flesh. Keeping his eyes closed, he began fashioning his own weaves on the Master’s. After only a minute, he was mirroring Jod’s spell perfectly. He could still feel the bitter wind tugging at his clothes and brushing his skin, but its chill could not enter him. He was as if he were standing beside the roaring stove in their dormitory.
‘Experiment with the spell,’ Rubrick said. ‘It takes but a trickle of energy to keep you warm on such a day as this, but always remember the dangers. Being creatures of flesh, magic will always tax your body. If you kept this spell up for too long, you would tire easily and your mind would be fatigued. Our talents are indeed useful, but should be used wisely. With a little more practice, all of you could repeat this spell at will, but isn’t it far easier to simply wear your robes? For what would happen if you needed to cast another spell in an emergency, but were already exhausted because you were too foolish to put on a vest? It is far wiser to use your magic only when needed or on miserable winter mornings like this when you need to rush outside to pee.’ Everyone laughed at that and Rubrick clapped his hands together sharply. ‘Now cease.’
Samuel stopped the spell and opened his eyes, looking around him. His friends surrounded him, all being blown at by the wind, yet all standing comfortably and smiling as if indoors. Despite the spell’s end, Samuel still felt some warmth residing in his core. Perhaps it would take a few minutes for the cold to claw its way back in.
‘Quickly, now!’ Master Jod called with his gruff voice. ‘Get yer gear on before you all catch a cold. The Grand Master’ll kill us if we let you all drop dead on him.’
Everyone ran over to the dormitory and there were robes flying as everyone fought to find their own. In the end, everyone threw on the first one they could get their hands on, as the cold had quickly come biting at their heels.
‘Hurry up!’ Master Jod shouted out, hurrying away across the sloshing grounds as the rain began to fall once more. ‘Follow us, quickly.’
Eric Pot was the first out after them, lifting his robe hems like a skirt and bounding after the two Masters with his boots splashing rain and mud. Samuel looked to Goodfellow, who was grinning back at him and together they pushed through the doorway and after Eric. The sound of splashing and mirth followed as the others all charged through the rain after them.
Eric was waiting with Masters Rubrick and Jod in the doorway of the Great Hall and they urged Samuel and the others to hurry inside from the rain, which was now beginning to fall with great earnest. After all the boys had pushed inside, Master Rubrick pulled the door firmly shut with a resounding boom and they moved into the flat, central area before the benches. The two fires on either side of the hall were roaring and the air was lovely and warm.
‘No you don’t!’ Master Jod ordered as one Adept, Marcus, began to remove his robe. ‘For this exercise, you must keep yer robes
They all spaced themselves evenly across the floor. Samuel’s heart was still pounding from the race across the muddy grounds. The water on his face had dried already and he could feel that he was already starting to sweat in his armpits. He had the feeling that they were in for some more discomfort before the lesson was done.
Master Rubrick sat on the foremost bench while Master Jod took command.
‘Warm up! Come on now. Follow me!’ Jod called out, facing them. He put his hands behind his head and began squatting up and down on the spot.
At once, everyone joined in and, after they had done thirty or so, Jod then led them into as many jumps on the spot.
‘You must learn to be as agile in yer robes as in anything!’ Jod called out as he bobbed up and down. ‘It’s the custom of magicians to appear statelier than the common folk, so you should never let minor discomforts bother you. And if they do, you can’t go showing it. If you are nice and warm while others shiver, or nice and cool while others sweat, then the people begin to hold you in awe. If you shiver like a little girl, the people will start to think we have regular flesh and blood like them-and we can’t have that now, can we? It’s a small thing, but it gives us magicians power over the common folk-peasants, nobles and kings alike.’
Samuel then caught on to the concept of this lesson. It was not really about the exercise or the encumbrance of the robes-Jod was intent on getting them hot-and it was working.
‘Riding Stance,’ Jod called and the boys all dropped into the even-weighted summoning position. ‘Forward Stance!’ Jod continued and began leading them through the various positions one by one. Already Samuel was considerably wet under his clothes and sweat ran freely down all their ruddy faces. ‘These stances should be second nature to you now. What’s wrong with you? You’re all young! Look at me! I’m old! Faster! Let your body do all the work and let your mind be free to concentrate.’
Samuel closed his eyes and moved through the stances. He could judge his timing by the stamping of the others upon the timber floor; also, he had been over this hundreds of times and it had become automatic to him. Once again, he could feel another’s spell running over him. This time, it was Master Rubrick’s and, by copying the flows of the spell, Samuel felt a surprising coolness on his skin. The closer he came to matching the teacher’s spell, the less the heat of exertion bothered him and the cooler he felt. He opened his eyes again and still held the spell. It was virtually identical to the warming spell, yet in some respects it was opposite, but Samuel supposed that was logical.
Turning full around during Peasants’ Circle, Samuel could see a few others on the brink of exhaustion. They stumbled over themselves and were dripping with perspiration. Samuel replicated his own cooling spell several times and cast it over them. He supposed by doing so he was not really helping them to learn for themselves, but they would not master the spell today anyway, from the look of it. At least he was making them a little more comfortable and gaining some extra practice for himself.
‘Well done!’ Master Jod exclaimed as they all stamped to a halt at the last position and brought their feet back together, standing at ease once again. ‘Most of you have learned the lesson at hand. A few others I will speak with later. Tomorrow we shall discuss the theory of what we have learned, so meet Master Rubrick and me here after breakfast. Now get out with yers!’ They all went to leave, but Master Jod had one more thing to say. ‘And by the way, Samuel-if I catch you helping the others during one of my lessons again, there’ll be hell to pay. Do you understand?’
Samuel gulped. ‘I’m sorry, Master Jod. It won’t happen again.’
‘I’m not such a fool that I can’t feel you throwing spells around like a bull in a pottery shop. You have much more practice to do before you can get away with that. Now off with yer.’
Samuel nodded again and damned himself for being so clumsy.
‘What do you think, Samuel?’ Eric asked at Samuel’s side. Goodfellow had also stepped up to be with them.
‘These spells? They’re the most useful things we’ve learnt lately,’ Samuel replied. I was beginning to think we were going to go over the same boring lessons for the rest of our lives.’
‘Me, too,’ Eric agreed.
‘It looks as though poor Lan and Chadly couldn’t quite manage,’ Goodfellow said.
‘They’ll learn,’ Samuel added. ‘They’re both a little slow at times, but the Masters will keep them atop of things.’
‘What class do we have next?’ Eric asked, using the Old Tongue.
‘That’s all for today,’ Goodfellow responded, using the same speech. ‘Master Glim is still away, so we have the afternoon free.’
An evil smile crossed Eric Pot’s lips. ‘
‘Are you thinking of visiting the city then, Eric?’ Samuel asked with a smile.
‘You know me far too well,
‘I would love to join you,’ Goodfellow said, scratching at his sandy hair, ‘but I’ve already promised to organise some journals for Master Kalbak.’
‘Suit yourself,’ Eric declared. ‘Samuel and I are going to enjoy ourselves, aren’t we?’
‘I’d say you’re more likely going to get wet,’ Goodfellow said.
‘The markets are well covered,’ Eric said, ‘although, admittedly, they do leak all over the place.’
‘We’ll see you later, then, Eric,’ Samuel told Goodfellow. The two Erics were often at odds over what was more important in life: work or recreation. Samuel suspected they would never come to an agreement, but he settled the matter in his own mind with something Master Kelvin had often said.
