by Guy Antibes
Ricky and Saganet walked to the Administration Building. Ricky shivered in the cold downpour after a more thorough workout than he intended. He wasn’t the freshest for a meeting with his primary benefactor, but Saganet dragged him through the rain into Merry’s office.
She smiled at Saganet and Ricky as they set up chairs in front of the fireplace. Ricky sat on the harder chair.
“What brings you to me on such a dour morning?” She looked at Ricky. “Shouldn’t you be running to your next class?”
“Those three nobles showed their true loyalties. I expelled them. I hope you’ll back me up.”
“Is that a welt on your neck, Ricky?” Merry said, noticing the darkening bruise.
“A warning, I suppose,” Ricky said. “They should have waited. They all but admitted Lady Taranta put them up to beat me.”
“A warning…” Merry tapped her forefinger on her lips. “I agree, Saganet. They should be expelled. I’ll return their full tuition. I’m always uncomfortable with students coming here for a last term, so they can use the Doubli Academy as their school. I must admit their families paid handsomely for the privilege, but we can’t allow such behavior.”
“One of them said his father was close to Duke Noacci,” Ricky said.
Saganet’s eyes widened. “Do you think the Duke was the instigator?”
Ricky shook his head. “I’m not sure. I asked them if Lady Taranta put them up to it, and they all went silent. I think is it her.”
“Let’s hope. The result is the same. Out they go. Do you need protection?” Merry said to Ricky.
“I’d like to carry a cane around.”
“One without a switch inside, but a metal rod to weight it,” Saganet said. “I know where I can get one. I’ll have it taken to your room. How do you like your building?”
“Fine, so far. I’m one of the few with a single room.”
“Can’t be helped. The expelled students were in the 4th year dorm. It wouldn’t be good for you to live there. Try to make as many friends as you can,” Merry said.
Ricky nodded. “I’ve already made the acquaintance of Jac Griama. We both have something in common.”
“Loria?” Merry said.
Ricky nodded, smiling. “He invited me to try out for the broomball team.”
Merry clapped her hands. “Excellent. Lots of nobles to meet. They have to learn that you are more than your upbringing.”
Ricky gave Merry half a smile. “The three students didn’t think much of me.”
“Not after having been given instructions by Lady Taranta. If Duke Noacci was involved, he might not have disparaged you as much as she. That is, if he knows who you really are.”
“He has to,” Saganet said.
Merry raised her finger. “We don’t know for sure what Gobble Bangatelli has told him. We haven’t made Ricky’s name a secret, but it’s a long way from Tossa to Sealio.”
“But Lady Taranta knows my name.”
“There is that, but she might not want to tell Duke Noacci that she has tried to have a fifteen-year-old murdered,” Merry said.
“No use worrying about it now,” Saganet said. “I’ll walk you to your room.”
“And I will have some men escort our three attackers out of the school,” Merry said, standing up and hugging Ricky. “I wanted everything to be back to normal when you returned.”
“Unfortunately, today’s attack was more normal for me,” Ricky said, sighing.
~
Professor Petrolo Garini and Professor Dari Calasay looked at Ricky standing in front of them. Today was Ricky’s first encounter with his special sorcery tutors.
“I invited Loria Mansali to attend, but she declined,” Professor Calasay said. “Do you know why?”
Ricky looked out the window of the small classroom. “Because I called her a vile human being.”
“You actually called her that?” Petrolo laughed.
Dari snorted. “Young Valian did. It’s all over the academy. Really, it will only make the girls harder to catch.”
“I’m not here to get a girlfriend,” Ricky said. “I just want to make it through the academy and then see about attending the University of Sealio.”
“Nothing wrong with that,” Petrolo said, rubbing his hands. “Now, let’s get started. I’d like to see you levitate.”
Ricky took a deep breath. “When I do, I get depressed.”
Professor Calasay sat forward in her chair. “Really? That is a good sign, you know.”
“As long as I get some exercise or distraction afterward, I can avoid it,” Ricky said. “Does that happen among performance sorcerers?”
Dari looked at Petrolo. “Not too often. Most don’t have the power to fly. Your father and mother did.” She pursed her lips. “I’m sure they found a way to eliminate their depression.” She looked at Petrolo, who smirked. “The ceiling here isn’t very high, but we only want a quick demonstration.”
After intoning the proper pitch, Ricky rose up and touched the twelve-foot ceiling and descended. He took a deep breath and didn’t feel any lingering emotional effects.
“Smoothly done,” Petrolo said. “How did you find the right song?”
Ricky had been struggling with how much to tell the two professors, but he had a story ready. “I found a very old sorcery book at the Home library that talked about incorporating will to find the proper resonance. When I was locked in a cell, I had enough time to teach myself how to fly. I remembered a sorcerer doing so when Saganet took me to a performance last year.”
“The one during the winter?” Professor Calasay said. She nodded. “He’s never been able to do anything other than going up a few paces and then descend. Most of his flying was by a wire. We understand you flew when you fought in Applia.”
Ricky laughed. “If you want to call it flying. I can’t move faster than walking.”
Petrolo glanced at Dari. “Only the Duterians can fly with any speed, that I know of.”
Professor Calasay bit her lip. “In Fisttia, it isn’t unknown, but those were rumors my parents brought with them. Like that new girl, Mara. Her relatives came to Paranty because there is more money here to be made performing than in Fisttia. I haven’t heard of anyone who could do more than Ricky just did.”
“So. What do I do with flying?”
“Nothing, Ricky,” Petrolo said, shaking his head. “Neither of us can do what you just did, so you’ll have to learn more elsewhere. I am interested in your technique. Can you teach us?”
Ricky laughed. “I teach you?”
“Why not? I wish you could have brought the book back with you. What else did it talk about?”
“There was another even older book that talked about sorcerers as craftsmen. They made things. Sorcerers would help create buildings, roads, make crops grow better, color fabric. Why don’t we do any of those things anymore?”
“Duteria and Vorria still have working magicians, but that has fallen out of favor in Paranty. There is more money to be made doing performances,” Dari said. The way she said it didn’t convince Ricky.
“Is healing taught at the University of Sealio?”
“A version is,” Petrolo said. “Mirano Bespa, who healed you, trained in Duteria.”
Ricky looked at both of them. “What if I don’t want to teach or fight in battles or perform?”
Petrolo looked at Dari. “Paranty culture looks down on sorcery. You know that. Battle sorcerers can only serve for six months at a time.”
“What about Baron Mansali’s dealings? He uses sorcery.”
Dari Calasay made a face. “At the cost of prestige. The family is looked down on for using it to further their business dealings. People don’t like to be shown up by those with talent.”
Ricky didn’t agree with her last statement. People didn’t like being shown up, but that shouldn’t allow others to be ostracized. He sat down and folded his arms. It looked like his options were few, and that rankled him. It didn’t matter now, while he
learned, but what would he make of his life once he left the University of Sealio? He had already rejected battle sorcery. He had had enough of that fighting the Duke of Applia’s forces.
Professor Calasay just nodded. Ricky guessed his reflection indicated his agreement with her remarks. They didn’t, but he wouldn’t correct his teacher. Now he’d have to be guarded just like he’d been at the Home.
“What’s next?” he said after a long pause.
“We won’t pursue power-linking,” Petrolo Garini said. “Dean Doubli made that agreement with Baron Mansali.”
“So it’s more performance sorcery?”
Petrolo smiled. “It doesn’t have to be. We can develop effects that aren’t just illusions, and vice versa. I think we can be limited to our collective creativity. Why don’t you come up with a list of things to learn, and we will do the same. Think of our time together as a workshop. That is how a lot of sorcery is done at the University by seasoned sorcerers.”
Ricky guessed that was the best approach. He’d do a bit of research at the ancient library and come up with items that he could combine with performance sorcery. He just hoped Dari didn’t think creativity meant making props, costumes, and scenery. He finished the session more disappointed than encouraged by his two instructors.
~~~
CHAPTER FOUR
~
“What is wrong?” Saganet asked Ricky a week later at the end of sword practice.
“I thought I was over depression from flying. Maybe I’m not,” Ricky said. “I had great hopes that my sorcery class would inspire me, but magic in Paranty is repressed. Maybe I shouldn’t have read the old books.”
“I hate to counsel patience, but that’s what I’m going to do,” Saganet said. “Paranty has discouraged active sorcery for centuries. You aren’t going to change that because a book you read told you sorcery wasn’t always perceived that way.”
Ricky turned away, listening to his thoughts reflected back at him. He didn’t want Saganet to reinforce his feelings, but that’s what his guardian did. “I don’t want to live such a restricted life.”
“Then don’t. Find ways to expand and grow what you are doing with Garini and Callasay a little bit at a time. Patience doesn’t mean you have to stop; it means you might have to slow down.” Saganet put his arm around Ricky’s shoulders. “You can do that.”
Ricky took a deep breath. “I can.”
“Let’s visit Duke Bariani tomorrow. We can talk a little more about the Curled Fist after we talk to him.”
~
Ricky dressed in his finest clothes and walked through a cool, misty evening to the cottage. He passed Effie going the other direction on the way. Saganet confirmed she would be instructing him for the rest of the year. She smiled at Ricky and hurried through the fog.
Saganet buttoned his coat just inside the door when Ricky entered.
“Ready?” Saganet said.
“I am. Will we eat with the Duke again?”
Saganet nodded. “All you have to do is listen, okay?”
“Okay,” Ricky said as they left the academy and strolled the streets of Tossa.
Ricky twirled the new weighted cane that he had brought along as a defense. He couldn’t see evidence of any thugs positioned to attack them. He recognized the restaurant that led to the Duke’s secret meeting place.
He looked around and spotted the palace wall just down the street. Ricky hadn’t paid attention to where they were on his first visit.
Duke Bariani wasn’t in the secret room when they arrived, but Ricky didn’t have much time to examine the oddities the duke displayed on a set of shelves before he breathlessly walked in.
“Saganet, Young Valian. Be seated.”
“Anything new?” Saganet said.
“Not much. There continue to be stirrings about Dimani, but King Leon hasn’t made any moves that my channels have picked up.”
“Nor in mine,” Saganet said. “Ricky has made friends with Jac Griama. Broomball is about to start, and Ricky’s going to try out.”
“Are you any good?” Duke Bariani asked, looking at Ricky.
“I don’t know. I’ve never played the kind of game students play at the academy. The street games I used to play aren’t as formal.”
Duke Bariani laughed. “I don’t suppose they are. If you are good with a sword and can run well, you shouldn’t do too badly. It’s all about running and eye-hand coordination.”
The duke motioned with his arms. Ricky guessed he was mimicking broomball strokes.
“Saganet, you should take Ricky to a professional broomball competition or two when the season starts in the spring. There are a few good leagues in Tossa.”
“Sounds like a good idea to me. Maybe we can take Young Griama with us.”
“Excellent idea!” the duke said. He rose from his chair and pulled on an embroidered ribbon. “Time to eat.” His eyes lit up. “Duck, tonight.”
Ricky hadn’t eaten much duck in his life. Not many residents of Shantyboat Town had the skills to bring down wildfowl. Saganet looked like he anticipated a good meal.
A servant knocked on the door.
“Come in,” the duke said.
A fit man, somewhat taller than Saganet entered. Ricky judged him somewhat between Karian and Saganet in age, perhaps his middle thirties. The man wore a brown leather vest with the ducal crest.
The server nodded to Saganet, giving Ricky the impression that the server was a member of the Order of the Curled Fist. The man went about setting the table and taking the food from the trolley. To Ricky’s surprise, the man sat down with them at the table.
“Young Valian, I’d like you to meet Insippa Baldico. Saganet knows Sippa. He will be the new broomball coach at Doubli Academy. I am paying his salary during the broomball season. He is a member.” Duke Bariani grinned and closed his fist, winking as he showed the order’s sign to Ricky.
“When do you start?” Ricky asked.
“Next week sometime. Show a little surprise to your friends when it’s announced. Doubli hasn’t ever fielded a proper broomball team. A few professors have tried to do their best to manage the team,” Sippa said, shaking his head. “Now that I’ve served you, eat up.”
Ricky looked at the duke, who nodded and began to fill his plate.
“Are you working at Doubli to get close to Jac Griama?” Ricky asked Sippa, who had helped himself to the food he delivered.
The man put a morsel in his mouth and smiled while he chewed and swallowed. “That is your job. I’ve coached broomball for years, among other things, in Sealio. I need to be employed, and the duke kindly used his influence to find me a job.”
Ricky figured the answer was a roundabout yes.
The three men talked of mutual acquaintances in Sealio for the rest of the dinner. Ricky and Saganet emerged from the restaurant into the evening fog.
“Is broomball taking the place of swordsmanship?” Ricky asked.
“Not at all, and Effie will still work with you for the remainder of your term. Sippa will take the open period before dinner.”
“But it’s dark, then.”
“Only for another month. Broomball season begins on the first day of spring. By then there will be plenty of sunshine to warm your bottom,” Saganet said with a laugh. “I suspect the next six weeks will consist of exercise drills in the gymnasium. You were going to try out for the team, weren’t you?”
Ricky nodded in the dark. “I was thinking about it, but now I have the assignment to do so?”
“You can consider it one,” Saganet said.
“Is Master Baldico higher up the order than you?”
Saganet nodded his head. “He’s part of the Sealio group. Many rank higher than Duke Bariani, but never tell the duke that. We do our part to muddle along in Tossa. Lord Taranta was going to present a problem for us in the city, but he showed his arrogance and, in the end, he paid for it. Tossa is much less dangerous now that he is dead and his wife tries to influence things fro
m Applia. The Order in Sealio is much closer to King Leon, and that includes Baldico.”
“What about my attackers?”
“A weak move on Lady Taranta’s part, Ricky. Using noble youth is a mistake. The young men not only identified themselves but also their families as Noacci supporters. One of the families’ affiliation was unknown until the boy joined in with the others. Duke Bariani is better at keeping those in check now that Taranta is gone. Just try to relax. You’ll have enough challenges dealing with Effie and trying to earn a spot on the broomball team.”
Ricky moved his lips around. “What if I don’t like broomball?”
Saganet shook his head. “What boy doesn’t like broomball? Did you like the game when you played it on the streets?”
“I did when I had a chance to play.”
“You’ll find broomball as challenging as swordplay,” Saganet said.
Ricky hoped so.
~
The dust caused Ricky to sneeze. He made sure he hadn’t damaged the last page he’d transcribed.
Mara looked over at him and giggled. “I sneeze all the time. I wish I could remove the dust from the room.”
Ricky smiled. “I sometimes think that dust is all that holds some of these old volumes together. If I found a spell to remove the dust, we might not have many books left.”
She wiggled her nose. “I think you’re right. Are you about done?”
“I’ll finish tonight, even if I have to stay up past curfew. This is the sorcery book that does the best job of explaining everyday jobs that sorcerers used to do. I need to create a list of spells to work on that will pass muster with Professor Calasay, yet give me practice in something other than performance sorcery.”
Mara made a sound. Ricky didn’t know if it meant she agreed with him or not.
“I like performance sorcery,” she said. “I’d rather do that than watch plants grow.”
“Grow stronger and yield more,” Ricky said. “And you don’t have to watch if the description is accurate.”
“That either.”
Ricky didn’t say another word until he finished the next two pages. “You aren’t opposed to sorcerers employing their skills as craftsmen?”
