happened head on. You did it. You did something miraculous, and that makes you either a saint or a wizard. Given your general lack of piety I’m leaning toward the latter.”
“You’re crazy,” I replied intelligently, “I don’t know the first thing about magic.”
Marc smiled, “I don’t either, but I do know one thing.”
“Such as?”
“Wizards are born not taught, so lack of knowledge is no defense.” Deep down I suspected he might be right. We were both full of questions, but the experience with the river had left us cold, wet and tired. We agreed to keep the details of what had happened secret, at least until we could figure things out.
“Come to the keep tomorrow and we’ll go through Father’s library,” he said. Marcus’ father was the Duke of Lancaster, a fact I frequently tried to forget.
“I can’t. I’m supposed to help Dad with a load of pig-iron tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow evening then. In fact, tell your parents you’ll be staying with me for a few days,' he replied.
'I can't do that. What will they think?'
'They'll think it's wonderful their son is hobnobbing with the nobility.' Marcus never held his higher social station against me, but he had no qualms about making full use of its advantages either. “Listen, I’ll send a runner over this evening with a fancy invitation. Your father will be so impressed he won’t even consider refusing.” Marcus grinned at me with his usual irrepressible smile.
“I think your plan leaves a bit to be desired,” I replied. “Don’t you need some sort of excuse or reason for the invitation?” My parents knew about our odd friendship as it had never been a secret. Marcus and I had met when we were boys, playing in the courtyard of the Duke’s keep during one of my father’s delivery trips. We hit it off immediately, although I’ve never been sure why. I suspect it was because he was the first child my own age with enough imagination and wit to keep up with my elaborate games of pretend. Soon after that my parents began getting ‘requests’ from the Duchess for my presence to help entertain her son. The Duke and his wife were remarkably forward thinking when it came to ‘mingling’ of the classes, but still as we entered our teenage years I had seen less and less of Marcus as he was required to spend more time with people of proper breeding.
“Hah! You’re coming over for a social gathering and boar hunt my father arranged for this week.” Marcus had an incredibly smug expression on his face, as if he had impressed himself with his own cleverness. The idea wasn’t that clever so I knew he was hiding something.
“You just made that up didn’t you,” I accused.
“Not a chance!” He had a definite glimmer in his eye. “Father planned this party two months ago. Young men and ladies of gentle breeding from all over the realm will be descending on our noble duchy this week.”
That gave him away. “Young…oh wait! You sneaky bastard! This is one of those ‘mixers’ your parents have been sending you to in order to properly socialize you with the gentry!” In point of fact Marcus resented the social gatherings his parents forced him to attend and spent most of his timing describing them to me as dull occasions attended by dimwitted fops obsessed with their own self-importance. I was sure he secretly enjoyed them at least somewhat; he merely presented them in a negative light to make me feel better since I couldn’t attend. Which raised a question. “Wait, wait, I’m confused. How do you intend to bring a commoner along for this thing?” The ‘commoner’ of course was me; I had no illusions about my social standing.
Marc snickered, “Ah my friend, this time is different! My father is hosting this event and since it is my home I can bring anyone I wish.” That effectively ended my last good argument. He got up and began leading Star away. He could have ridden her, but he was an excellent horseman and it never even occurred to him to do so after her ordeal in the river. “I’ll have the invitation over in a couple of hours. I’ll send a coach for you tomorrow evening.”
I shook my head, embarrassed, and tried to think of a good parting remark. My wit failed me however, so I had to settle for a simple, “See you tomorrow.” I began walking home, trying to figure out how I was going to explain this to my parents.
Chapter 2
Any meaningful study of magic must begin with those most proficient in its use, mages or wizards, as those more educated in its use are called. Those individuals who for uncounted generations have been passing knowledge, from master to apprentice, regarding how to effectively use and shape the forces of magic, or as they refer to it, the ‘aythar’. According to their teachings, aythar is the vital force present in all living things, and in some part also in inanimate objects, although to a lesser degree. It is the core force behind things we describe with many different names such as: energy, spirit, life-force, elan, passion, magic, and faith.
The next evening arrived more quickly than I’d imagined and there was the coach, pulling up near our house. My father had actually been rather pleased by my news. He had a fair opinion of the Duke already, and I’m sure he saw this as an opportunity to acquire more favorable terms and business for the smithy. It certainly can’t hurt having your son be friends with the next Duke. Mother was a bit more anxious. She seemed certain I would commit some serious breach of etiquette and get myself and possibly the family into trouble. I tried my best to reassure her, but looking back I see now she was much wiser than I had ever given her credit for.
Stepping into the coach I was surprised to see Marc already within. He gave me a wide grin, “Hullo! Ready to start your adventures?”
I answered in a sour tone, “This isn’t some romance where we’re off to slay dragons and rescue damsels you know.”
“Says you, but I have a rather more optimistic view on these matters. Besides which, there will indeed be some fair damsels at Castle Lancaster over the next few days, some of whom may well need a rescue,” he replied.
“From what?”
“Not what, who!”
I sighed, my friend had developed a definite talent with women over the past year, or so I had heard. “You’d best be careful; tupping the town girls is a far cry from besmirching the honor of a nobleman’s daughter.”
He didn’t answer that, just grinned at me. We rode in silence for a while, till the bailey came into sight and the outer walls drew closer. I was staring out the coach window when something caught my eye. “Marc! Look at that.” I pointed out the window, toward the nearing archway.
Marc poked his head out the window to look in the direction I had pointed, “What?”
“The wall, what are those odd symbols? See them glowing like phosphor?” I was pointing again, trying to show him the glowing runes limning the archway ahead of us.
“I don’t see a thing,” he said as he sat back down, “describe them to me.” I did the best I could and by the time I was done we were through the gate and heading for the stables. “Oh! Of course!” he said.
“Of course what!? Don’t leave me wondering dammit.” The glowing runes had put me on edge.
“You saw the castle wards. Father told me about them, but apparently only people with the ‘sight’ can see them. I’m guessing that includes wizards,” he answered, rolling his eyes up and to the side, as if to indicate he didn’t know any wizards.
“I’m not a… Wait, they weren’t there last week when I came to town. Did your father hire some sorcerer to enspell the walls these past few days?”
Marc stared back at me, “No. The wards are old. They were placed decades ago by some wizard my grandfather employed for a short time.”
“Then why couldn’t I see them before now?”
“Well you didn’t used to possess livestock and walk on water either. Ah! I know! Did you just finish puberty? I noticed the other day you don’t look quite as girly any more…check your balls, are you getting fuzzy down there?” He ducked, laughing, as I threw my travel sack at him.
The coach stopped and a footman held the door for us to step down, so we tabled our discussion for later.
