unhappy at the prospect of leaving. The sumptuous appointments of the establishment might be impressive and luxurious, but the young mage found he preferred the more basic comforts of Arnor House.
He agreed with his fellow Questor, Dalquist, that something seemed a little sick and decadent about this magnificent, ancient institution, and he knew he would feel happier back home.
At first, he had no idea of how he would spend his day until the evening's feast, but he eventually decided on visiting the library dedicated to Thaumaturgical Research, the study of the principles and practice of magic. Having been so easily gulled by the young witch, Madeleine, he felt determined to avoid being trapped in a similar fashion at a later date. He hoped that this library might furnish him with more understanding of witch magic; how to recognise and counter it, should he ever meet it again.
The Location Gem led Grimm to another anonymous door. On opening it, he felt that this was a much more convivial place of learning than the library he had visited the day before. This room seemed far more in keeping with the musty, comfortable Scholasticate Library to which he had become accustomed.
Wood-panelled and thickly carpeted, it seemed as if the room somehow exuded silence from its mute, ordered ranks of books, standing like proud sentries at attention in a vast parade of knowledge. The books Grimm could see were mostly old and well-thumbed, with cracked spines and faded titles. These leather-bound tomes seemed to be a well-loved and well-used resource.
Behind a well-worn, cluttered desk sat a slender mage with silver hair and lines on his face that bore mute testament to a humorous nature.
'May I help you, Questor?' he asked, in a warm and amiable tone. 'I am Scholar Pruell Margat, the custodian of all books of Thaumaturgical lore in this establishment.'
He extended his hand, and Grimm took it, finding Pruell's grip firm and dry.
Grimm no longer felt surprised when mages guessed his Speciality; the sight of a mere boy bearing a Mage Staff could only mean one thing.
'I am Questor Grimm Afelnor, Scholar Pruell,' he said, smiling. 'I'm honoured to make your acquaintance. To be frank, I'm pleased and surprised to see such a friendly face in here.'
Pruell's face crinkled. 'We're not all high-and-mighty types here, Brother Mage,' he said. 'I come from Girard House, to the north of here, where we're a little more relaxed and a little less haughty in our dealings with the Craft than some I could mention.' His face assumed a mock expression of mournful exasperation.
Grimm would never have considered Arnor House as relaxed, but he sympathised with the Scholar's sentiments.
'I am from Arnor House, Scholar Pruell, and I, too, yearn to return home, even though I have only been here for two days. Things here are a little too spit-and-polish for me.'
The Scholar nodded. 'What is your interest here, Questor Grimm? I hold volumes on all aspects of magical lore.'
'Do you hold any volumes on… on Geomancy that I might peruse?' Grimm asked, remembering Prioress Lizaveta's term from the night before.
Pruell rubbed the angle of his jaw. 'I have a few books on the subject; theory only, I'm afraid,' he said. 'There isn't much call for that subject here, but I know you Questors are a little different from the rest of us.
'Rack 17, just over there,' Pruell said, indicating the relevant area with an outstretched hand. 'I hope you find what you are looking for. I'm sorry I can't be of more help, but my knowledge and education are, of course, limited to sleights of a more runic persuasion.'
'I understand, Scholar Pruell,' Grimm said. 'Thank you very much for your help.' With a polite nod, he headed for the relevant rack of books.
Scholar Pruell had not lied about the paucity of books on Geomancy in the library; Grimm could find only five such volumes. However, 'Geomancy; Principles of the Art' seemed more than adequate for his needs.
As he read, he found that a fundamental difference between the magic of witches and mages was the source of power. As he knew well, mage power came from within the body of the mage, whereas it seemed that the power of a witch was drawn from the living earth itself. A mage spell patterned the mind in order to give form and effect to the marshalled energies of the body, and witch spells seemed more like a form of meditation, opening the mind to act as a conduit for Geomantic forces. In both cases, the amount of energy that could be controlled was a function of the caster's will.
Mage enchantments generally acted on objects, either as a means of destruction or transformation, or as a way of giving form to naked energy. The spells of witches, however, acted directly on living creatures, seeing beneath the flesh and accessing the target being's inner drives, emotions and motivations, changing and controlling aspects of its actions, or even enabling the witch to transfer her consciousness to the mind of the spell target.
As Grimm read on, he began to see how Madeleine had been able to manipulate his emotions, changing his very brain chemistry without his knowledge. The book implied that this was a basic form of the art, equivalent in status to the Minor Magics practiced by Guild Mages, but very effective, nonetheless.
A major limitation of this type of magic was that the caster could only amplify emotions and drives that already existed in the target's psyche; Grimm had found Madeleine attractive, and she acted on that fundamental drive, enhancing and augmenting it. However, although she had almost driven a wedge between him and Dalquist, she could not have motivated him to kill his friend unless he had already possessed some seed of deep hatred for the older Questor that could be nurtured and persuaded to flower. Even if he had loathed Dalquist with every fibre of his being, the young witch would have had to batter down his self-control and his conscience, engaging in a contest of wills: Grimm knew a Questor's will to be all but indomitable in such a contest.
Grimm put the book down and rubbed his forehead as if to stimulate his brain. Madeleine was surely too young to have been able to engage in a mind-to-mind contest of wills with a powerful mage like Dalquist and win. Yet that was what she would have needed to be able to do in order to change his mind about her relationship with Grimm.
Certainly, the older Questor had indicated that he felt that he might have been over-reacting on the last full night of Grimm's amorous enslavement, but the young mage, replaying the scene in his unfettered mind, realised that Dalquist had just been trying to mollify him. At that time, his confederate had not really been convinced of the innocence of the tryst. In that case, a more potent form of Geomancy would have been required to bring about the Questor's rapid change of mind, a sleight surely beyond Madeleine's abilities.
If not Madeleine, Grimm mused, then who did cast that spell?
Only a single candidate came to mind: the ancient Prioress, Lizaveta.
It doesn't make sense. Why would the Prioress want to control me? There must be a dozen Questors here from different Houses, all much more experienced than I am. What does she want? Why didn't she approach me directly, instead of employing all this subterfuge?
The questions buzzed around inside Grimm's skull like irritating flies around a horse's eyes, to no end, for many minutes. Then the answer to the last of these came to him: the old woman had recognised that she could not engage in a direct conflict of wills with him and win. She had doubtless sought to soften his resistance by means of his induced infatuation with her young acolyte, and then to break him down by a series of small encounters, each time chipping away a little at his resolve until he was finally hers to control.
Grimm picked up the book once more, and read further. At the highest levels of Geomantic control, the caster could manipulate her subject's very memories as well as his inner drives.
With a cold shock that seemed to penetrate his very soul, he realised that that might well have been the explanation for his grandfather Loras' bizarre and uncharacteristic actions, which had led to his expulsion from the Guild!
A powerful Mage Mentalist might have been able to force Loras into attempted murder, but only a witch could also have convinced him that it had all been his own idea. Only a witch could ever have done this to his grandfather.
