Mage (The Elemental Magic Series Book 2)

by Michael Nowotny

  Alec handed both pouches to Jimmy who plunked them down on a table and pulled his own pouch out as well. Scooping a large hand full out of one bag Jimmy added it to his own. After securing his pouch Jimmy picked them up and thrust them into Alec’s hands. Alec was told that the rest was his. When he asked why Jimmy told him that he had done most of the real work. Alec was astounded and tried to get him to at least take the rest of the bag he’d dipped into. Jimmy just shook his head no and told him it was his.

  The ride back to the Morton’s was pleasant; Alec sat next to Christi holding her hand, Jimmy having declined a ride to where he was staying. He couldn’t help but stare as the wind blew her hair back from her face. After noticing that their chaperone, Bill, had dozed off, Alec leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He got a big smile that warmed him all over.

  Telling the others good night and getting a polite little kiss from Christi, Alec headed for his room. Shortly after closing his door he heard Christi tell her mother good night as well.

  Chapter 7

  In his room alone Alec slipped on his night shorts, he couldn’t help but wonder how much was in the pouches sitting there on his bed. He took the smaller one and up ended it on the bed. It was about three quarters full of coppers the rest were silvers with three golds. Up ending the other pouch next to it was about the same but with seven golds in it. He heard a low whistle behind him. Turning he saw Christi looking over his shoulder at all the money and shaking her head.

  “That’s a lot,” she said.

  “How’d you get in? Closet, you used the closet didn’t you?”

  She shook her head yes and asked. “You need help counting; I’m not really tired yet?”

  Alec accepted her offer and they set to it. He counted the coppers and her the silvers.

  When they were done he had a hundred and eighty two coppers and seventy-six silver.

  Being a bard might not be such a bad idea after all, Alec thought. He turned to Christi and said, “Not bad for just an evening, don’t you think?”

  She shook her head agreeing with him. “Well, so long as you can sing we won’t go hungry that’s for sure.” She smiled at him implying that they would be married at some point in the future.

  Alec scooped up the coins and stashed them in his dresser with his other pouches. When Christi asked him why he had two other pouches Alec showed them to her. Christi let out a gasp seeing the amount of money he had with him. Alec had to agree with her reaction, it was a lot more money than he had ever seen let alone had in the past.

  Christi suggested he put the money in the merchant’s bank, which drew a frown from Alec. She explained how the bank worked, the bank would hold his money so he didn’t have to lug it around with him all the time and he could just write a script for purchases. Alec agreed, the number of coins he had would make it a pain to carry.

  She kissed him good night after stifling a yawn and headed for the closet. Alec finished getting ready for bed and lay down, he was exhausted.

  It became apparent to Alec that he’d slept in the next morning. The sun was shining through his window and hitting him in the face. After a quick shower and making himself ready for the day Alec headed down to the sitting room. No one was around and it was obviously past breakfast. He headed to the kitchen to see what he could dig up, just some fruit would be nice, he thought.

  Alec found George in the kitchen also. It looked like he’d had the same idea. Alec found out that most everyone else was still asleep, only him and George were up.

  George told him about the party that would be later that evening and had a good laugh when Alec told him he didn’t know anything about it. As Alec munched on an apple Brian brought in a note for him. It was from the armorer that was working on his larp. The man had finished it early and he could pick it up anytime.

  Alec told George that he would be back with in a couple hours and proceeded to walk to the armorers shop. It took him awhile but he was in no hurry with lunch a good two hours away. Alec stepped into the shop and was greeted by one of the man’s apprentices. Alec asked to speak with the master smith and was told to wait. The smith having spied him through the door gave him a nod from his forge. Giving the apprentice what looked like some instructions he disappeared from view for a few minutes.

  Alec took the time to look around at some of the weapons hanging on the walls.

  One sword in particular caught his eye. It was a type of rapier, both sides of the blade had cutting edges and the blade was perfectly strait. The hilt looked to be made of twisted wire wrapped down to the end and then curved over itself creating a guard. There was just enough room on the hilt for two hands but it looked light enough to be used with one.

  The smith brought out his larp; it looked roughly the same except for the pins holding the blade now had a slot in them.

  “Finished early with the other pieces and figured you would want to show this off later,” he said.

  “That’s great, sir. I appreciate it.” Alec told him.

  “The name is Bret Shielding or Master Bret if you need to tell someone who did your work.”

  He set the larp down on the counter next to the new headpiece. Bret pulled a copper from the till and fitted it into the slot of a pin. He gave it a twist then used it to push the other end out. He removed the pin and had Alec try with the second one. He could feel when the pin was unlocked from the other half and it slid out easily enough. Bret put the hexagon ball on and handed the larp to Alec. He took a step back and gave it a spin in his hand. It felt like the weight of the blade was still there but without the extra reach.

  Alec told him that he was very happy with the work and thanked him. Alec settled his bill and glanced at the sword one last time before heading for the leather workers shop, Mr. Wells. He found the man at his counter and received a smile as he entered. Mr. Wells told him he had perfect timing and would save him the trouble of having to send a message to him.

  Alec pulled the blade from the back of his pants and laid it on the counter. Mr. Wells reached under the counter and pulled a sheath out from under it. Alec was shown how the strap would secure it to the staff portion of the weapon or it could be used to hold the sheath on his hip. Alec gave his thanks and settled his bill with Mr. Wells too.

  With his larp in hand, he strapped the sheath and blade to his right hip and began his walk back to the house. Having the larp or staff as he mentally checked himself felt right. The staff felt like it was a natural extension of his body, even more so now than when he’d dropped it off.

  Alec got back to the house and found everyone in the sitting room. He ducked his head in and said hello before heading for his room, to put the staff away. As he was about to enter he saw Christi hurrying to catch up.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were going out? I would have gone with you.” She followed him into his room.

  “You were sleeping still and I was just picking this up. I told George I would be back before lunch,” he explained.

  “I was only asking but I would have gone with you.” She took a seat on the edge of the bed as he put the staff in the closet and laid the blade on a shelf.

  Alec sat down beside her. He asked if she had plans for the rest of the day and received an odd look. He thought for a minute and didn’t believe there was anything he’d forgotten.

  When he asked why she was looking at him funny, she told him the Fall Festival party was that afternoon and they were expected to go. Alec had thought the party was to be late in the evening. Another odd look came over her face and she covered her mouth with her hands. She had apparently come to the same conclusion he had, no one had informed him as to the when or where of the party.

  Christi grabbed his hand and practically dragged him from his room and halfway to the sitting room. As they entered the sitting room where George and Jessica were relaxing, Christi announced that she might have made a huge mistake. She had their full attention.

  “I forgot to write and ask the Queen’s steward
to include Alec in our invitation,” she explained.

  Jessica went over to the mantel and pulled a thick letter down with a flowing script on the front. Withdrawing a hard paper card from it carefully, she read the contents quickly.

  “There’s no mention of him on it.” She told them. “Christi, how could you do this? I hope to the gods we can get him in, otherwise this is going to look really bad on our part.”

  Jessica apologized to Alec a split second before Christi. George spoke up saying he needed to go a little early to speak with King Manister about some business, and told the women that he would see what he could do.

  After lunch Alec was told to go start getting ready. Jessica suggested he wear the good black pants and dark green shirt that he’d bought then reminded him to shave first. Bill patted him on the shoulder before going into his own room, saying welcome to the family and that he’d already gotten his talking to.

  Alec laid out his clothes and stripped down to his undershorts. After shaving off the light thin stubble, he slipped in to the fine clothes. Looking in his closet he pulled out a dark gray, almost black, colored jacket that he bought off a merchant on the street. Looking back, he knew he’d paid almost double its worth. The sleeves that were too long when he’d bought it now fit fine.

  He looked at George as he came into the sitting room. Dressed in a fine looking pair of black pants and dark blue shirt, he had on a jacket that came down halfway to his knees. Allan and Bill were almost perfect copies of him. Their shirts were a lighter blue that matched their complexions better. His own skin tone was so light, he wondered if he actually looked more like a ghost, with his dark clothing.

  After talking about everything they could think of, off the tops of their heads, the men sat and waited in silence for Christi and her mother.

  Finally, Christi and Jessica came walking into the room. Jessica was wearing a light blue dress that flared out at the bottom and just covered her shoulders. Christi’s dress was very similar, a light green color but left the shoulders bare.

  Alec stood and stepped toward her around Jessica, without even realizing it.

  He reached out and took her hand in both of his, and said, “You look beautiful Christi!” He must have stood there staring for too long, because it took a couple loud coughs behind him and a nudge to get his attention.

  He turned and looked at the rest of them, suddenly feeling very warm in the jacket.

  George cleared his throat again and motioned everyone outside. They all piled into a larger lavish carriage and were headed for the palace in no time. As Alec sat with Christi, she would occasionally look to her mother and receive a nod or wink that George tried to ignore or just shook his head at.

  Pulling through the palace gates and off to one side where a good two dozen stable hands waited. They exited and were greeted by a sharply dressed man. George handed the invitation over and the man read it quickly. The two proceeded to speak in such low voices that Alec couldn’t hear what was being said.

  When George rejoined them, he was red in the face. He explained that the man wouldn’t budge on letting Alec in without direct permission from one of the royals. He apologized to Alec several times as Alec said his goodbyes to Christi. Alec waved off the offer of having the carriage take him back to the house and started walking toward the gate. With a look behind him, he saw the door to the palace close after them.

  He only made it a few feet past the gate when he heard his name being called. Turning around and looking back the way he’d come, Jimmy had a hand raised and was waving franticly.

  “Glad I caught you! Where you headed anyway, the party is inside!” he asked.

  “I don’t have an invitation, so I can’t get in.”

  “Horse drops, come with me, I’ll get you in and it will only cost you one song.” Jimmy smiled at him.

  Alec shrugged his shoulders and followed him back through the gate. A couple of the guards gave Jimmy formal bows and others saluted. Alec thought it was odd but it was none of his business. Jimmy marched right up to the official that had denied him earlier. He stood off to one side as Jimmy told the man something. A small book was pulled from inside the man’s jacket and he opened it to a page in the back. Jimmy’s finger stabbed at the page and the man nodded. Alec was waved over and asked to sign the book.

  He saw Jimmy’s name and listed below it were six other names stating that they were apprentices. Jimmy whispered in his ear to just sign as an apprentice and they would talk later as to making it official. Alec did as he was told signing the book as apprentice Alec Carter.

  Being led into the palace, Alec tried to take in everything. The walls were covered in tapestries showing various scenes of war or heroic deeds. He followed Jimmy down the hall and through several turns, Jimmy was greeted several times as they passed people. He stopped before a door and peeked in, and waved Alec in after him.

  The room held a table with a handful of chairs and the walls were bare. Light came in through a single window. Jimmy pulled out a chair for Alec and sat in another.

  ”You want it nice and easy or just straight up?” Jimmy asked.

  “Just tell me what I need to know. I never like being chased around,” Alec said.

  “Good, here is the deal. I know you were going to be a sorcerer and I know what happened too. I’m guessing you’ve transferred to Master Stalle’s knights. Am I right so far?”

  Alec nodded.

  “It normally takes around two to three years to win a sword and shield. Then you journey for three to four and are tested again before becoming a full knight. I’ve spoken to Tom, we’re old friends. If you agree, I want you to enter as a secondary bard too. You’ll learn all your fighting stuff and in the afternoon and some of the evenings you’ll learn songs and music reading and writing as well as an instrument. Any questions so far?” He asked with Alec sitting there so quietly.

  “I like to sing and such, so far I can’t see a down side to it,” he said.

  “The only additional cost will be that you need to purchase your own instrument, after you decide what you want to learn. As a secondary Bard that means I can take you as an apprentice, I want to.” Alec received a level look.

  “Why? I’m not that good and you obviously have had others?”

  “I do have others and you’re not that good, yet. You have one thing the others don’t though. You can feel for a song, make it your own, and pour yourself into it. That is what makes a true bard.” He paused letting what he’d said sink into Alec.

  “During your apprenticeship, and after as my chosen, you will be known as Alec Hawkswing. Now don’t worry, you’ll still have your own name, if you chose to use it, and many bards have married and settled down and such. Being a bard just means you have the skills and have some extra duties, like coming and singing for the king. It’s entirely possible that you won’t even make minstrel.”

  Alec liked the idea. It just felt right to him, as if it was a necessary step in his life. He told Jimmy so and agreed to be his apprentice. Alec could see the grin on Jimmy’s face spread out from ear to ear.

  Jimmy stood and helped him from the chair. He was led out into the hall where he was told they were going to meet an old friend of Jimmy’s. They stopped at a door with two guards on either side of it and Alec's stomach dropped. One of the guards announced them as Bard Hawkswing and apprentice.

  They were being admitted to the Queen’s private apartment. Jimmy stepped forward and gave her a hug, calling her by her given name, Lilly. Jimmy turned and introduced Alec as his chosen apprentice.

  Alec stood frozen in place until the queen held out a hand to him. He took her hand and bowed over it brushing the back of it with his lips. He stuttered a greeting to her.

  She gave a light small laugh and assured him she was just a person like himself and that he could relax when they were in private. Alec sat next to Jimmy on a couch as a servant poured drinks. He mainly just listened as Jimmy and the queen talked.

  After a while, h
e became comfortable enough to join the conversation but made sure not to forget who he was talking to.

  Jimmy and Alec stood to leave when her steward came in to remind her that it was time to get ready for the party. Alec followed Jimmy out and down the hall to a large ballroom. The place was near full as people mixed and various groups were having conversations, each trying to be heard over the others.

  Jimmy showed Alec where they would be seated for the dinner and told him he would only call him up to the stage for one song. The rest of the evening he could enjoy with the Morton’s. Alec followed Jimmy back out of the ballroom. Being seated at one of the three high tables they would be introduced before being seated at their table.

  They sat on a bench just outside the ballroom as Jimmy explained the hierarchy of the bards and their duties.

  There were three masters on the council of bards of which he was one. Alec was told there were four levels to being a bard. First were those who were trying to develop their voices and skills to enter the school formally, then those called secondaries or minstrels such as himself who had the natural talent and voice.

  Secondary students were there to learn the history and songs that went with the trade as well as learning any skills they were lacking to make full bard. A full bard was his next step followed by master bard. Jimmy told him that many never made it to full bard and of those that did, only half made it to master.

  Alec was surprised at the organization of the bards and said as much. Jimmy just nodded before saying that they needed the organization for when their presence was required. He went on to explain that they were the arbitrators of the kingdoms as well as the recorders of history.

  Only a master bard could mediate for a country but the regular bards took care of internal disagreements. Most of the bards and some of the masters were available for entertaining at various functions. If a lord or such required the services of a bard he would contact the council and they would send someone out unless a bard was asked for by name. A bard’s skill level and popularity determined the price that would be paid for a bard’s services.