He stood in the middleof the room expecting surprise and loads of sympathy. His familycould clearly see that his arm now resembled a club rather than itsnormal state. He expected his mother, Tina, who was a healer, tosuddenly shout, exclaiming that he had some terrible disease butshe didn’t.
‘Has that happenedbefore?’ she asked calmly, and he angrily replied,
‘Yes, somethingsimilar, but not quite as bad, earlier this morning when I was inthe market; and a few minutes ago my leg went all rubbery.’
‘Did anyone see?’
‘A merchant at themarket and perhaps the two guards with me,’ replied Rob. ‘What’swrong with me, mother?’
‘I think I know, but Iwould like to consult with some others first. Go to your room atthe mansion and lie down.’
Melanie stood shockedfor a few seconds then reached over and touched it. ‘It’s real,Rob. It’s not an illusion. Your hand has melted.’
‘I know Melanie, Iknow,’ he growled.
‘Calm down, Rob,’ saidGrandad. ‘I think it’s time for a family meeting tonight afterdinner at the mansion. Tina can you contact you-know-who and findout what he suggests we do? Rob, get some rest - it should turnback into your hand again. Melanie, save your questions untillater.’ And he left with Grandma
Rob’s mother took hisright hand and said, ‘Don’t worry Rob. I’m sure that it will befine,’ then left.
Melanie’s mother,Flora, hugged him.’ Don’t worry Rob. Tina will look after you.’
Melanie’s father,Peter, had a close look at the blob of flesh, poked it, andmuttering to himself teleported away with Melanie’s mother, leavingRob and Melanie standing together.
‘What just happened?’asked Melanie, incredibly surprised at the family’s response.
‘They all acted as ifthey knew what was wrong, but weren’t prepared to say it aloud,’replied Rob.
‘That’s exactly what Ithink. They’re keeping some horrible family secret from us. Iwonder what it is. I hope your hands and legs don’t all turn intoturtle flippers or blobs at the same time, Robbie, you’ll have toflop around on the floor like some type of weird animal. It couldbe quite funny,’ she said impulsively, seeing some sort of darkhumour in it.
Rob was not amused.
Meanwhile elsewhere intown High Priest Kelnor of the Temple of Spiritual and FinancialHarmony sat crouched behind an ornate polished wooden desk that wastrimmed with gold inlays. A skeletal scarecrow of a man, he stoppedscratching at a parchment with his quill and curtly asked hisassistant who was next.
‘We have Algrin, themerchant from the bazaar, Your Holiness. He claims to have valuableinformation on a potential plague within the city.’
‘Not another merchanttrying to backstab a competitor I hope. Okay send him in.’
Algrin was brought inand the usual courtesies began.
‘As Your Holinessknows, I am one of our faith’s most obedient servants. Earliertoday I witnessed what could be the beginning of a plague, or atthe very least a horribly diseased member of the Merchant Wizards’Guild wandering the bazaar in the Wall area, contaminating thepeople with his affliction.’
‘Really!’ said Kelnor.‘And what evidence leads you to this conclusion? Was the personreeking with foul odours and covered in horrible sores?’
‘Not exactly, YourHoliness, he was a sickly man and had a horribly malformed armwhich he hid from sight lest it worry all who saw it; and hefeigned illness even to one of his friends who met him in thebazaar. Later, I had some of my friends who are members of ourfaith follow them, to see whether this man showed any other signsof illness. They said they saw the man fall to the ground groaningin pain, with spots on his face. When they approached to offerassistance, the friend of the ill wizard attacked them for noapparent reason, delivering them terrible blows and incapacitatingthem using a strange foreign form of fighting.
‘Then, for no apparentreason, one of my friends attacked and ferociously fought with thetown guard that came to investigate a disturbance, while the wizardand his friend escaped.’
‘Are you suggestingthat the wizard used mind magic on your friend? That is a veryserious charge.’ said Kelnor looking concerned.
‘Perhaps, YourHoliness. My devout friend is not known for getting into fights,and he wasn’t drunk at the time. It would explain his bizarrebehaviour.’
‘Hmm. It is a bitstrange for one of our brethren to openly fight the town guard. Didthis wizard wear a guild badge or display any family symbol?’
‘Yes, Your Holiness,The wizard wore a dark green flattened hat of wizard style, with asingle yellow or golden stripe. I’ll draw the family symbol if youwish.’
Kelnor nodded, and themerchant sketched Rob’s family symbol.
‘My friends are in thecity lockup if you wish to talk to them further.’
‘Okay, I’ll look intoit, but I can’t promise that your friend who fought the town guardwill get off lightly,’ replied Kelnor.
Algrin the merchantleft with a smug smile, thinking that this would even up thingswith the thieving young wizard for stealing his amulets.
Kelnor called for hisassistant to pull out the file on the owner of the family symboldrawn by Algrin. He was always interested in what the members ofthe Merchant Wizards’ Guild were up to; and to find that one with apossible deformity or disease who was potentially using mind magicwas even more interesting. A few minutes later the assistantreturned with a large book.
‘The symbol belongs tothe merchant wizard Sol Theolaur. He is the Secretary of theWizard’s Guild. He is not a member of our faith. He runs a Councillicensed magic shop in the Central Circuit and has an estate in thewealthy district in the temperate zone. The wizard cap was of abase level wizard artisan, suggesting that it may have been one ofhis tradesmen. There are no serious infractions of the law recordedfor the family, but there was a case several years ago where SolTheolaur was believed to have used mind magic. The case was neverproven, and was dismissed.’
‘I seem to recall we’veinvestigated this man on several occasions before, but I can’tremember why. He is not considered a powerful wizard, yet he hasconsiderable influence and wealth. Why is that? He is a modelcitizen, but very wealthy. He is hiding something, and perhaps weshould look a little deeper. Get some of our agents
