Aaron's new norm became early exercise, breakfast, training hall for weapons training, then back to his room for lunch, I added walking the castle walls and grounds to my routine. My body was responding faster than I would have expected. I suspected it had to do with magic and all the runes I wore just under my skin.
The Weapons Master started joining me. At first, he would make corrections, or minor adjustments. Then he started sparring with me. With his help I improved quickly. I had them make me a heavy punching bag and hang it in the back corner of the training hall. I started practicing my strikes and hand-to-hand when I was alone.
During a sparring session the Weapons Master came at me from an unexpected angle. I countered by dropping my sword catching his descending wrists, taking him around in the same direction; then reversing his wrists causing him to flip. We wound up on the floor with his sword at his neck.
I had done it without thinking. It was a standard defensive move to counter that kind of attack. I let go of him and stepped back. I expected him to be mad. "I'm sorry Master, I just reacted."
He jumped up, "don't be sorry, that was excellent, to defend without thinking is why we train. Where did you learn that, show me how you did it." So, I showed him how to reverse an attack like he had made.
"Where did you learn that move?"
"I don't know, it just seemed right." He didn't look convinced but didn't press me for more. That was the most I had spoken to anyone since I arrived in this body. Things were bound to change now.
Not everyone knew about the serum treatments given to Mage's children. They told everyone I had been ill and left it at that. No one questioned Royals.
Chapter 2
I continue with my strength training, this body definitely needed it. Many mornings the Weapons Master joined me in sword practice. I knew he watched me when I worked the heavy bag.
“Come with me,” he said as I arrived one morning. I followed him out of the castle proper over to the guard’s training area. “If you want to improve, you will need to train with others.” I nodded.
“I would speak to you man-to-man.” he said, I nodded. “These men are soldiers. While training one may get a bloody nose, or a bruise or two, you understand?”
“I’ll try to go easy on them Weapon’s Master.” I said smiling.
He laughed, “You do that, lad.”
We entered their training hall. It was more like a converted stable, but it was what they had. They continued to train. Some practiced swords, some knives, some grappled in a sand ring. We went over to the sand ring and watched.
“Corporal.”
“Yes, Weapons Master?”
“Prince Aaron will practice with us for a time.”
The Corporal cut his eyes at me then back at the Weapons Master but said nothing.
“Corporal, while I’m training in your house, I am a trainee, no repercussions. The battlefield will have no mercy on me.”
He looked squarely at me. “Truly spoken M’lord. Trainee it is then. In the sandpit with ya.”
I moved into the ring; the Corporal paired me with the smallest man there. Even at that he was a head taller and 50 Pounds heavier. We started slow, instructing me in the basics. I did not want to make them look bad, so I went along.
“Stop,” the Weapons Master said. He pointed at me. “Stop wasting our time. Fight, or go back to the castle and train alone.”
I nodded, “Yes Weapons Master.”
The Corporal stared but said nothing. We started again. I countered his first hold and pushed him past. He came harder. I countered and tripped him. He was getting mad and came at me all out. I blocked his right blow slipped his left swing; I palm punched his diaphragm, and leg swept him. I waited for him to catch his breath from the diaphragm punch.
Everyone had gathered around the ring watching the exchange. “You could have done worse?” the Weapons Master asked.
I didn’t answer right away. “One never shows all he’s capable of, unless his life depends on it.”
“A philosopher too?” He asked. I shrugged.
My opponent was back on his feet and came to me. “Show me.” I nodded and walked him through the fight and my counters.
So began my training in the guard’s training hall. As with most soldiers, what happened in the hall, stayed in the hall. My business stayed my business.
If anyone ever came to watch, we stayed with simple, basic sword practice. When it was just us, we went all out. If the guards were not on duty, they were training with me. The funny thing was no one ever asked where I learned my art. I guess it was their version of “don’t-ask-don’t-tell.”
AFTERNOONS I SPENT in the library reading. I read everything. Maps, magic, history, geography, if the book was there, I would read it. A few of the scholars thought to impose themselves on me. They soon realized I was far ahead of them in most areas. I didn’t embarrass them or show off. After that they left me alone.
I studied and practiced magic at night. The hardest part was getting my mind to accept that magic existed in this time and/or place. Once past that, I began to improve. And because of the old Mage’s memories I improved at an accelerated pace.
Maybe it was because of all the movies I had watched, books, and comics I had read. My imagination knew no limits as to what magic could or couldn’t do. If Dr. Strange could do it, why not?
While I meditated, I levitated. I levitated objects and moved them around me like electrons around a nucleus. I teleported objects from one side of the room to the other, including myself. I learned to tell when people were near me, even behind a wall and could not be seen. I learned to eavesdrop at distances, and the list was growing. I was working on developing a 360-degree awareness. I still had a way to go before I became proficient.
The doctor still came to see me weekly. I’m sure he reported to the King as soon as he left. I went from feeling “strange” to feeling “fine”. Most everyone left me alone, I was the “strange” Prince. That suited me, I doubted it would last though.
I BORROWED SIX, BASEBALL sized balls of yarn and took them with me to training. As I sat waiting for people to show up, I began levitating them and moving them around me. Everyone knew we were Mages, so it was no secret I could use magic. As far as they knew, I had always used magic. Royals kept secrets about their magic.
“What’s this then, you going to teach us to knit?” the Corporal asked, everyone chuckled.
“I need help keeping track of multiple opponents and multiple weapons. I’m going to us these to practice. I want some of you to toss them at me while we train. Let’s start slow until I get the hang of it.”
After a week of getting beaned in the head, I started improving. After a month I was catching them spinning them in my atomic pattern, then throwing back to them. Once I had mastered that we changed to bean bags, and they came at me more than one at a time. I still missed occasionally, that kept me practicing.
RETURNING FROM THE practice hall, there were servants waiting at the door to my quarters. “Yes?”
They bowed, “we are to measure you for new clothes Your Highness.”
“Oh? What’s the occasion?”
“They expect Emissaries from Shornwick at week’s end, M’lord. You are expected to dine with them. They also expect you at breakfast in the morning in the family dining room.”
“I see, all right let’s get to it.” They took my measurements; my body had changed a lot in the last few months. I knew this day was coming I just wasn’t looking forward to it. “Suck it up, buttercup.” I mumbled.
“Excuse me M’lord?”
“Nothing, please continue.” They finished and left. I had better be ready for games in the morning. My big brother, Crown Prince Cain, would be on the prowl. He would start something, some prank to embarrass someone. More than likely that someone would be me. No problem, it couldn’t be any worse than SEAR School. Two could play at that game.
Once all was quiet, I went down to the family dining room. I foun
d Cain’s chair and “fixed” it. I loosened the joints on one leg and used a spell to hold it into place until the time was right.
I was about to leave when I felt someone approaching. Without thinking, I levitated up into a dark corner of the ceiling. Two people entered. It was Cain, and our sister Celya. I smiled.
“This will be so funny,” Celya said.
They went to my regular place at the table and pulled out my chair. “We’ll see if the mute pup has anything to say when this goes off,” Cain said. When they had finished, they pushed my chair back into place. They were both laughing when they left the dining room.
“What are we, in high school?” I chuckled. Once I was sure they were gone, I dropped down and traded my chair with Celya’s. I returned to my room and went to sleep with a smile on my face.
I DIDN’T WANT TO BE the first one in the dining room. Let them be first that would not arouse suspicions about me. Cain, Celya, and our younger brother Amos were already there.
I nodded to Amos, “brother,” I greeted him.
He nodded in return frowning, “brother.”
I was watching Cain out of the corner of my eye and knew the second he was about to spring his trap. I was ready to spring mine. There was a loud bang and a flash of fire came out from under Celya’s seat. She screamed as it lifted her chair a foot off the floor. When her chair landed back on the floor, Cain’s chair gave way dumping him on the floor.
It was quite the show, and I was hard pressed not to laugh. Amos didn’t hold back. As my Grandpa would say, “He thought that was a knee slapper.”
Celya was screaming at Cain, he was trying to untangle himself from his broken chair. Amos was laughing uproariously. I just watched the show like a good mute pup.
Cain saw Amos laughing and assumed he was responsible. He came across the room at him. “You did this,” He shouted.
Amos saw how mad Cain was and stopped laughing. He was shaking his head, “no.”
Cain leaned across the table reaching for Amos. “Leave him alone Cain,” I said standing up.
Cain turned his head toward me, “So the mute pup speaks.” He took Amos’ plate and threw it at me like a frisbee. I caught it like a frisbee, spinning my body around, and launched it back at him. He didn’t have time to react, the plate shattered against the side of his head, knocking him to the floor.
“This pup has teeth.” I said.
Dazed, Cain staggered to his feet in a rage. He started conjuring a fireball to throw at me. I felt the King and Queen entering the room. Cain’s fireball was the size of a volleyball when the King shouted, “Cain.” That broke his concentration.
Timing is everything, I flicked a thought at the fireball. It exploded in Cain’s hand setting his sleeve on fire and singeing the hair on that side of his head. The King flicked his hand putting the fire on his sleeve out. The room stank of burned hair.
The King looked around the room, “Well?” no one said anything. He waited a moment. “At least you stick together, when caught in your pranks. Get out, all of you. I don’t want to see you again today.”
As we left the dining room, “Thanks,” Amos whispered, I winked at him. He smiled. All-in-all, I thought that went rather well for my first meal with the family.
BREAKFAST THE NEXT morning was a little more sedate. We ate in silence. “Aaron,” The King said wiping his mouth with his napkin.
“Yes, father?” I answered. I felt sure what the next question would be.
“Have you shown any manifestations yet?”
I hung my head, acting the part of a remorseful child. “Not that I can tell, Father.” He nodded. Cain smiled.
“Yeah, but he can throw a mean plate.” Celya mumbled.
Cain’s face reddened even more than his already sunburned color. The King ignored the comment.
“Are you are still training with the Weapons Master and studying in the library?”
“Yes, father.”
He thought a moment, “continue your arms training, your library studies, and add horsemanship to your training.”
“Yes, father.”
This was both good and bad. I could now do what I wanted training, but he was up to something. He did nothing without a purpose. He was planning something. He would use his perceived mundane son to further his agenda. And I probably wouldn’t like it. I now had to consider whether I should manifest some small power, to throw off his plans, or let this play out.
The rest of the day went as usual, weapons training, lunch, library. I had finished reading another magic book and replaced it on the shelf. They were becoming redundant. One referencing another that referenced the first. I seemed to read in circles. I walked down the aisles browsing. When the aisle ended, I turned to go back, but an odd book caught my eye.
On a lower shelf were a few dust covered books pushed to the side and back. I looked through them; I saw nothing new. The last one, a small, plain brown leather-bound book. It was about the size of a small journaling notebook.
There was no title on the outside, the inside cover of the book read; Book of Thoughts and Memories. There were no pages in the book. I opened the book flat to examine it. It folded itself open into a larger book, doubling in size. It went from being pocket sized to a composition sized book.
Opening the larger book there were a few pages in it. Each time I turned the page there was another page there. It had been someone’s notebook. A Mage’s apparently, there were spells, descriptions, explanations and theories. It offered more sophisticated explanations than any book I’d seen since I had started studying. This would take time to examine. I closed the book to its smallest size and put it in my inside vest pocket. It was time for the evening meal with the family, and I didn’t want to miss that.
I was first to arrive and took my seat waiting for the others to arrive. They brought me cool watered wine to drink while I waited. The others arrived shortly after that. The Queen who was usually quiet, was excited about the visitors coming to visit.
“I have seen no ‘Genteel’ Women in so long, it will be a refreshing change. I hope Margret and her daughter Regina comes with them. You can renew your friendship with her, Celya.”
“Oh joy, I can hardly wait.” Celya rolled he eyes.
“Mind your manners young lady, they are Royalty as well and our peers.”
“She may be ‘a peer’ but she ‘appears’ to look like a sow.”
“It’s been five years since you’ve seen her, people change.”
“For her husband’s sake, I hope so,” Cain said laughing cutting his eyes around at me. He had a new haircut, so both sides matched... Kinda. They had healed his face. Which was fortunate for him, as Mages that could use magic to heal were not all that common. Something tickled my memory.
It seemed the old Mage could heal using magic, which meant potentially, I could. The old Mage had chosen his victims based, at least partially, on their abilities and knowledge. The knowledge he had gained from each victim had given him a wide range of knowledge and abilities. Healing being one of them. There was talk of a ball and other gatherings. Most I let flow past me.
“Let’s not forget, they are here primarily to discuss peace between our lands. I expect all of you to be on your best behavior.” The King looked pointedly at each of us. “Don’t mess this up.”
“Yes, Father,” came the chorus.
AFTER MY BATH, I TOOK my new notebook out and examined it. I opened it to it composition book size. The first two pages were blank, as I turned the page, words were on the third and those beyond. There was no telling how old this book was. From what I had seen so far it would take a while to read through it. “Too bad it doesn’t have a table of contents.” The page turned, and there was a table of contents. “No way.” I started reading down the list and came to maps. “Maps, that should be interesting.”
The composition book folded open twice more forming a large, old style, Atlas type book. Large pages of maps folded out. I heard my mother’s voice, “close
your mouth, you’ll catch flies.”
“Ok, a magic book, no problem.” I looked through the maps. They were nicely done, but there was a problem. I didn’t recognize any of them. No countries, no oceans, nothing seemed familiar. Small parts of countries, maybe. But the whole atlas? No. “Ok, not in Kansas, got it. Doesn’t change the fact that I’m here. Deal with it.”
I closed the atlas and opened the book before the atlas, and it held all kinds of drawings and diagrams. All perfectly done. I closed the drawings book and opened the composition book. I had my hand on a blank page, “I’m going to need a pen to add notes.” I said.
The words, “I going to need a pen to add notes,” appeared on the page. I stared at the words, and thought, “Do I have to speak the words out loud to add them?” Those words appeared on the page. I smiled.
I thought of a circle, not the word the object, a circle appeared on the page. I drew a happy face and a thumbs-up. Then erased them all with a thought.
I needed to keep this safe. A thought tickled my memory. I teleported to the old Mage’s room. Even though the room was dark, I could see everything clearly. This was a new ability I had not noticed before. I looked around the room, going over to his work desk. There were a lot of notes and scraps of note papers there. I already knew what all those were.
I opened his wardrobe and found what I was looking for. There hung his Mage’s Cloak. Not quite Dr. Strange’s cloak but mine had a hood on it, and it could do some cool stuff too. Who knows, I may can improve on it. There was also a leather belt with a pouch. If this had been D&D, it would have been a “blessed bag of holding”. He called it a “pouch of gathering” it did basically the same thing. I put the belt and pouch on. I put my notebook in the pouch.
Mage Throne Prophecy Page 2
