The Changeling

by Whiskey Flowers

  “I thought you said nobles wanted you,” Jonathan queried.

  “It is no secret that mages would much rather marry mages regardless of their status,” Sara said. “Marrying a commoner mage is the only way to keep magic alive in the kingdom without inbreeding. Your father and I were aberrations, we both had rare traits that nobles wanted in their bloodlines. They wanted the size of my magical well and your father’s ability to handle multiple spells. But the poorer noble mages who sought us out were idiots. You can’t talk down on someone you are trying to partner with and expect them to enter a marriage with you. In my case it was even worse. Mage women have a very good chance to have a mage child. For this reason many non-magical nobles wanted me. It is like a double edged sword, the noble mages don’t really want to marry a commoner but they also do not wish for us to marry a mundane if we have magic. Your grandmother received death threats for daring to fall in love with a mundane commoner. When it became obvious that me or your father would not be kissing the feet of any nobles, things got even tougher. Well let's get your things, you won’t need much on our trip.”

  “You will be studying the entire time” Joshua said. “I know you will do me and your mother proud. When things get tough there, I want you to remember something...”

  “That I am a Thunder and I come from proud stock,” Jonathan said, finishing his father’s thought.

  Jonathan was excited to be leaving. He had never even met another mage before. His parents kept him in the small town of Ethridge. They had always told him it was for the best. Jonathan didn’t even own a mage's robe. His friends knew he was a mage since Jonathan had shown them small tricks. But he always felt like an outsider, like he had no one who knew what it was like to be him. The other boys were busy learning some trade, like smithing, carpentry or anything else involving their hands. Some of them even were in training to join the army. Jonathan figured if he didn’t have any magic that he would have joined them. At night they talked about their training and Jonathan had no similar occupation he could converse about. The girls in the town were interested in him. But his parents were strict in chasing away anyone he was remotely interested in. Jonathan didn’t mind too much since women were a subject he was in no hurry to rush into.

  Jonathan groaned as the traveling dragged on, his parents insisted on renting a carriage so he could learn on the way. And they all stopped at almost every small town they came across. They seemed sad and excited at the same time Jonathan thought – sad he was leaving and excited in their certainty that he would excel. When Jonathan finally reached his destination he thought it was odd the rest of the trip had to be done on foot. Jonathan thought he could have more easily flown to wherever he was going but his parents wanted to walk.

  Jonathan gazed at all of the mages walking the street and was both awestruck and terrified. These men and women looked like they didn’t have a care among them. They walked like the world moved around them instead of the other way around. Jonathan looked down at his robes. He had never wore the garment before but he noticed a difference in his robes and the robes of the people around him. Jonathan’s robes had a white stripe outlining his hood. He hadn’t thought that this was so significant but now that he saw robes of others, he realized how much he stood out.

  His parents had told Jonathan the majority of the mages in Magus Mazuli would be noble but he hadn’t understood the scope of the class difference they were talking about. Ethridge boasted no nobility. Jonathan had assumed nobility would be somewhat like the mayor and council. But they were not even close.

  Magus Mazuli was a mage town. Anyone there who was not a mage was in some type of business that catered to mages. All of these businesses were paid by the crown. Everything in the small town was free for mages. This included rooms at the small inn, food from the vendors, new robes and anything else a mage could imagine. Small homes were given to any mage who wanted to settle there. Jonathan had often begged his parents to take him but they were strictly against it. They had explained that most mages were noble and would look down on them at every turn. Noble mages were a breed all their own. They even looked down on other nobles who were lacking in magical power. Jonathan found his destination easily. The mage tower stood out among the smaller buildings and was located at the center of town.

  “Are you ready for this?” Joshua asked. “Right now you look absolutely stunned.”

  “This place is crawling with mages,” Jonathan replied.

  “That it is,” Sara said.

  “I haven’t seen one commoner mage since we got here,” Jonathan said, looking around.

  “They are here alright,” Joshua said. “You are going to be unique, even among them. You'll be at least as unique as I was anyway.”

  “Because of my lightning?” Jonathan asked.

  “Because you have two mage parents and the majority of them do not,” Sara said. “Most of them do not have any mage parents at all. They were just born with the gift. The commoners you will see in the mage tower are mostly the result of dalliances and affairs from times past. Fewer and fewer commoner mages like yourself are being found. When they are it is a perfect scandal for one of them to date a mundane. But I told you this already. Which reminds me... your grandfather’s gift.”

  “A gift from Pawpaw?” Jonathan asked, surprised.

  “It is already here,” Joshua said, beaming. “It is not the best but it is far from the worst one either. Your grandfather is worried about you being here. He remembered the tales your grandmother used to tell him. You can tell him about it Sara.”

  “Your grandfather gave you one of his prized horses,” Sara said smiling. “Kel comes with a small carriage made to seat four. The horse and your new carriage are already at the town stables. It is located on the outskirts of town. Finding someone to drive you around town shouldn’t be too hard. You are going to have a decent amount of money in the bank. Noble and commoner mages are paid on a different pay scale of course. While we make good money compared with the average peasant, we make a quarter of what noble mages are paid. But we also do paid side jobs all the time for the crown which boosts our pay significantly.”

  “Why do you have to work extra when most noble mages sit on their rears?” Jonathan asked. “We all do the same job. Our job is even tougher since we are always the first people to fight.”

  “It is a very effective way to get magic out of the hands of commoners” Sara replied. “As a mage you quickly get used to the finer things in life. Only a commoner with an ax to grind or some special friendship would not go for a noble. Once married into a noble family, your pay increases to parity. You are lucky just like I was that your grandfather is a well off commoner. Nobles did not have anything, except for a title, they could offer your grandmother not to choose him.”

  “I am from one of the only families of commoner mages. Trust me when I say that I felt the sting of having little money,” Joshua said. “In Magus it is not too bad. Everything here is free. But there are study trips you have to take outside of Magus Mazuli. Then you will be able to tell the difference.”

  “It is mean is what it is” Sara stated and Jonathan could tell his mother was angry. “The only reason I see for that study is to embarrass those with little coin. Vashing is two days away walking. There is a clear divide for the haves and have nots. There are four inns in Vashing, only one of them is on the good side of town. The rest double as taverns in the worst slum you have ever seen. Your assignment is always in the nice part of town so you have to get up early and walk there. Just thinking about it makes me angry and I never had to deal with any of it.”

  “Well fix yourself dear,” Joshua said. “Let’s get Jonathan settled in the tower. It is already going to be a scandal when we get there.”

  Jonathan wondered why his parents were so worried but had to admit he was uncomfortable. Any mage they saw looked at his family oddly and some even sneered. Jonathan guessed they were right when they said it was unusual for a commoner mage to have two commone
r parents. Jonathan thought it was obvious Sara and Joshua were his parents. Jonathan was tall and thin like his mother. But he also had the sunken dark eyes and serious expression of his father. Jonathan was happy to have them as his parents. He hoped they were just worrying for nothing.

  Jonathan was impressed as he stood in front of the Tower of Magus Mazuli. He thought it was strange they had to walk there but realized he would have missed out on the sights he was now seeing if they had ridden in a carriage. Magus Mazuli had some weird rules. No horses in town had to be the weirdest one. But Jonathan had to admit the place was kept spotless. Around the tower were several one story buildings. He followed his parents inside of the tower and around some corners where they finally stopped in front of an ornate wooden door. Joshua rapped on it a few times and the door opened to reveal a spotless stone room that had been painted white. Joshua and Sara stepped inside first. Jonathan followed, wondering to himself why someone would go to all the trouble of painting stone white – despite liking its appearance.

  “I am here to enroll my son in the tower,” Joshua said.

  “Your son?” A thin older woman queried, as she looked at Joshua and Sara, then on to Jonathan. This woman was not a mage. Jonathan thought that it looked like she does a lot of paperwork as he stared at the mounds of paper on her desk.

  “You are both together?” the woman asked.

  “That we are,” Joshua said.

  “Two commoners?” the old woman said in amazement. “Well I don’t see that happen every day. What is your name lad?”

  “Jonathan Thunder,” Jonathan informed her.

  “Well Jonathan, tell your parents goodbye. You belong to the tower now,” the old woman said. “Any things you brought with you, including your robe, have to go with them. The tower will provide everything you need henceforth. Your first stop should be for the supplies you will need. You can find supplies in the room next door to me along with directions to get to your new accommodations. You can change your robe there and hand it off to your parents.”

  Jonathan watched the thin old woman write his name down and mutter something to herself. His parents were not exaggerating when they told him he would be considered to be somewhat unique. Jonathan decided he would keep it to himself that he was a commoner with two mage parents. He doubted it would come up in conversation. But if it did, he would deal with it at that time. Next door he was given new robes, some other simple clothes, boots, writing supplies, a spell book and hygiene items. As Jonathan switched out of his robes in a small dressing room, the man serving him let it drop that the Tower was not in session and that most people would be arriving next week. Jonathan was happy his parents did not linger. Both sadness and worry were evident on their faces as they gave him a quick goodbye and departed.

  The place Jonathan was given to stay was actually outside of the Tower in one of the low-rise buildings he had seen when he was walking up. Jonathan had expected as much from the barrage of information his mother and father had dumped on him on the way into the city. Male commoners all slept together in a big dorm room filled with decently expensive beds. Female mages, commoners or not, were housed in the tower. His mother had told him it was so they could better mingle with the other mages there. It was likely female commoner mages would either marry someone they met in the tower or someone they met through the people they met there.

  Jonathan found a bed near the center of the room and put his things in the large chest at the foot of his bed, with the exception of his spell book. He flipped through the pages of the book and smiled at his parents. They were often gone either doing some work for the kingdom or helping his grandfather out with his business. Despite this, they had always made time to train him. Jonathan already knew most of these beginner spells and how to use them.

  Jonathan was told that there was a clear divide between the average commoner mage and a noble mage. Noble mage families had been intermarrying with other noble mages for years, so their magic was stronger. It was not unheard of for a noble mage to be able to cast two spells simultaneously or to combine magic to make a new spell. Noble mages also had a lot of magical energy at their disposal. And that well of magical energy often refilled a bit faster than commoners.

  The noble mages here would also be familiar with magic, he knew. Many of the spells Jonathan was looking at would also be known to the nobles. In the rear of the book the power intensive spells were detailed. These spells took a lot of energy and could not be cast by just any mage. Jonathan’s father Joshua found it hard to cast a fireball, for example. It was too power intensive and involved separating his magic from himself and still having control of it. Joshua could cast a fire spell. But fire was easy as long as the spell came out of your hand, like a spout, and stayed attached. Fireballs had to be cast, then controlled with no physical contact. His mother Sara could have done the magic in theory, but she had another limitation. Joshua just didn’t have the magical energy to pull it off, Sara didn’t have the ability to cast two spells at once and a fireball contained a small amount of wind magic. Jonathan didn’t doubt that his mother could have cast many fireballs with her big well of magical energy. But the spell was closed off to her, just like it would be to many commoners.

  Sara had told Jonathan that most commoner mages could only cast one spell at a time. She also told him that she could count on her fingers the number of commoner mages that could control two different magics. His father Joshua could juggle eight different magics simultaneously. He just wouldn’t last very long doing it. The spells at the end of the book were all power intensive and called for at least two magics. On the very last page there were spells that used three different magics, like icicle and stone spear. Jonathan was dismayed that he did not find a lightning spell.

  Sara told Jonathan that he would surprise a lot of people with his ability and control. But he now considered whether he really wanted to stand out here? His parents had made it seem that people were going to hate him due to jealousy or a desire to control him. Did he want to draw attention to himself? Jonathan knew the answer almost immediately as he could hear his father’s voice in his head, ”You are a Thunder and come from proud stock”. He put the book down and sighed. Whatever was going to be would be.

  CHAPTER 2

  The next week passed by quickly for Jonathan. He learned more about the Tower and how the mage school was run. Every mage had to spend at least two years in the Tower working to improve their knowledge, timing and control. Weak mages would be separated after that. They would be deemed fit for graduation, since there was nothing more that they could learn. Most of them would be sent off to join a reserve force under the authority of the Queen. They really wouldn’t have to do much in peacetime. They were paid by the crown to stay at home and be ready for any task she might have for them. If they wanted extra money they could take on public works tasks handed out by the Archmage for the good of the kingdom. Jonathan's parents had told him that they got called out more than other commoner mages, Mostly the tasks were small things like helping to clear a road or work on a building project.

  Stronger mages spent an extra year at the Tower. Upon graduation, they would receive better pay. Almost all of them were nobles. Joshua had told him the tests given at the end of the second year were biased in favor of the nobility. During his second year finals, Joshua had to toss either five fireballs at once or spew flame from his hand for thirty seconds. Since Joshua could do neither, he was deemed fit for graduation at the end of his second year. But because of his casting ability he was deemed worthy enough to stay on in a guest faculty role.

  Joshua knew many of the noble mages could neither cast five fireballs or hold flame for much longer than thirty seconds. They however had been tested on something easy like casting two mage lights at the same time, which he could easily do. Joshua said that there were three tests which were supposed to rotate so no one would know which test would be given to a candidate. The third test was to spar in a mage duel with one of the instructors a
nd win.

  Jonathan’s parents however, knew that the system was rigged. His mother Sara had gotten the mage light test because they knew she could only cast one spell at a time. Joshua had told Jonathan that he was sure if he had fought an instructor that he would have won. He would have tossed two powerful lightning bolts, one to break through the instructor's shield and the other to finish the mage on the other side. Joshua said he would have varied the intensity of the spells so the first spell would smash through the shield but the second would stop short of killing the instructor once his or her shield was down.

  “This place can go straight to the pit,” a red haired boy exclaimed as he came in and dropped his personal items.

  Jonathan saw that he would not be alone. Nine more men came into the dorm room and started claiming beds. They were all around his age. Sixteen was the age most mages went to be trained, but they were permitted to hold out until age twenty according to the laws of the kingdom. Most commoners came as soon as possible for the pay. Hardly any of them would stay past their second year so Jonathan figured the oldest any of them were was seventeen. His father Joshua had told him that he only knew of two commoners who had stayed past their second year. The first was Joshua himself though the tower had made sure it was in a so called teaching role to prevent him from ever getting the same pay as a noble. The second was his mother. Sara was also given a teaching role but in reality, the people in charge had kept her in the tower to try to get her married to one of their sons or the son of some other noble mage.

  “Calm down” said a thin brown haired boy who sat on a bed near Jonathan. “You all should be happy that you even have magic and that you are allowed to study here. Any commoner would gladly trade places with you so stop crying about some minor grievance.”