'So I don't-sorry, Lord Mage; I do not-know if there is such a thing as an immovable object or an irresistible force, but I do know that you cannot have both in the same world.'
Crohn had said that he would show that some propositions are not amenable to a plain yes or no solution, but he declared himself unable to fault Grimm's logic.
'Why, yes; I do believe you are right, Afelnor. I had never thought about the question in that way. Excellent- very well done.'
Safe in the inner depths of his mind, Grimm grinned at the Magemaster's discomfiture as the class tutor quickly posed another conundrum, 'If I said 'Everything I say is a lie', could you believe me? Afelnor, your solution, please.'
Grimm licked his lips in confusion. If the statement was true, this would also mean that the statement was false, and therefore everything Crohn said was true… but that would mean that he was, in fact, a liar! It was puzzling indeed but, buoyed by his earlier success, Grimm tried to apply his rudimentary command of logic to analyse the apparent paradox.
'Lord Mage, may I assume that the opposite of 'Everything' is not 'Nothing', but 'Not everything'? If so, then the opposite of the statement becomes 'Not everything I say is the truth'. This is perfectly sensible.'
Crohn seemed to have recovered his equanimity now, as if he were once more on solid ground. 'A fair attempt, Afelnor,' he said. 'However, I am afraid that the logical opposite of 'Everything' is, in fact, 'Nothing'. Also, if you are going to completely reverse the statement it becomes 'Nothing I do not say is the truth' a: rather nonsensical statement, but one which reiterates the original proposition. You cannot just invert selected parts of a statement in order to produce its inverse; all clauses and concepts must be inverted.'
Grimm struggled on. 'But surely, Lord Mage, a true inverse would be 'Nothing anybody other than I does not say is the truth'?
'I stand corrected,' Crohn said, his tone acidic. 'However, this does not change the sense of the matter. One can indeed attempt to tackle such a problem by addressing its inverse. However, one then has to re-state the original problem as a logical inverse of what one has just proved. The inverse of 'Nothing anybody other than I does not say is the truth' turns inexorably back to 'Everything I say is a lie', and we have solved nothing.' Grimm struggled to confute Crohn's argument but nothing came to mind. Choosing discretion as the better part of valour, he gave the required polite bow and sat down.
While the boys were kept imprisoned in the Scholasticate during the educational year, Students were allowed a mid-year visit from their families after their third year, and the huge Refectory was filled with passionate reunions on these occasions. No other form of contact with the outside was allowed except for this visit. Perhaps this monastic isolation from the real world, combined with the long years of study, was the biggest reason for paying Students to leave the Guild before gaining a magical vocation.
Grimm sometimes had to fight tears when he saw the emotional embraces, and some other poor boys were sobbing openly, deprived like him of the least iota of familial warmth and love.
Also, unlike the paying boys, Grimm would not be entitled to home leave at the end of each year; Magemaster Crohn had explained that the likelihood of charity Students returning to the House to justify the Guild's investment after the depredations of the harsh regime was slim. Nonetheless, charity boys would be allowed to send and receive letters from home at the end of their third year; this gave Grimm hope, and buoyed him up.
Madar seemed almost ebullient on visiting days, often elbowing Grimm and Argand to point out some physical or behavioural quirk in the visiting parents.
'Doesn't it bother you, Madar? Don't you miss your parents at all?' Grimm asked.
'I can hardly remember them,' Madar replied with a cheerful grin. This seemed no brave pretence; Grimm's friend was telling the truth.
'My idea of fun is not sitting opposite my father while he tells me about his latest doxy and how well his business is going, while I know he's just counting the moments 'til he can go back home to his hoard and his mistress. My mother died when I was small. So no, I don't miss them in the slightest. What about you?'
'I didn't know either of my parents,' Grimm said. 'They both died of a fever when I was about two. I lived with Granfer and Gramma after that, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I do miss them sometimes. What about you, Argand?'
'I do miss my Da and Ma at times,' Argand confessed, 'but a few years away from my big sister Serah won't do me any harm. Come on, let's go and play marbles in the yard.'
On his tenth birthday, Madar and Argand staged a small pageant in honour of their friend, and Grimm knew that he was truly home. He felt guilty that his memory of his grandparents' faces was fading, but he knew that in the year to come he would be able to receive letters from home, and to write back. Life was good.
Chapter 18: Messages From Home
Dear Granfer and Gramma,
Thank you very much for the lovely cake you sent me on my tenth birthday. It was very nice and I shared it with my friends Madar and Argand. They also enjoyed it. It is so good to be able to write you after all this time and I look forward to a letter from you.
I am doing well at runes and pretend spells and our mage master Kargan says I am good at singing. Magemaster Crohn is often fierce, but I do not think he really means it. I see him smile sometimes when he thinks nobody is looking.
Would you believe it, I am quite a good dancer now; even Magemaster Faffel has stopped hitting me with his stick. He is quite hard sometimes, so I am pleased. Madar is a good dancer; he helped me a lot.
I can play the lute a little bit now and I sang on stage as a minstrel a few weeks ago. Next year you can come to see me at the end of the term. I have lots and lots to tell you, but no space here.
Lots of love, Grimm
As Grimm was on his way back to his cell one night, he was intercepted by Doorkeeper and given the letter he had been waiting for. A communication from home, at last! He hustled to his cell and tore open the letter with clumsy, eager haste.
To his surprise, there were two different letters within the envelope, one signed by both his grandparents and one signed only by Granfer Loras. He read the latter epistle first.
My beloved grandson,
I hope this letter finds you as it leaves me. By now, you will know the truth about my former life, and I am deeply sorry that I did not tell you of this before, but you will appreciate that this is not a matter on which I can easily dwell.
Not even your grandmother knows of my past, and neither could I find it in me to tell your late father, my own son. I believe it is deep shame that drives me to hide the truth in this matter from those who know nothing of it.
However, now that I know that you know all too well what and who I was, I find it easy to write you these few lines. It is so good to be able once more to speak of my past and to write frankly to my beloved grandson.
I am ashamed of what I once did, Grimm, and I hope that you can find it within yourself to face and to master the legacy of shame that I have left you. However, please believe that I did not send you to the Guild because I wanted you to absolve me by being a better mage than I was.
I believe with all my heart that a bright lad like you, with such power, would be wasted as an apprentice smith in a dull backwater like Lower Frunstock, and I know that only within the Guild will you find any kind of fulfilment.
I regret I will be unable to visit you at the end of the year, for obvious reasons, but your grandmother is
