“Yes, I know, Silurian,” she turned and looked at him now with full attention. “So, what will you do with him now?”
“It is nearly Mid-winter day. After that, I will send him to Kason.”
“So, he has agreed,” she said slowly, smiling.
“Indeed, though I could tell he was less than enthusiastic about it. He has no idea what it will be like working with a wizard as an apprentice.”
“And you do?” she laughed softly.
Now Silurian smiled. “True enough, I never know quite what to expect with Jonny, but the one thing I’m sure of is that he will excel. This work with the amulet proves it. If he only achieves the least of what I expect, he will surely be the best wizard at creating amulets born in the last two hundred years. Beyond that,” he paused and looked off into the distance. “Beyond that, who knows? For the first time since the Great War there could be new objects of power. All the greatest zdrell masters created them. If we are very lucky, perhaps Jonny too could produce them, maybe even a line-cutter. Wouldn’t that set the demon masters back?” he snorted.
“Silurian, you put too much on the boy,” she said, shaking her head.
“Maybe, but since the last line-cutter was destroyed three hundred years past, the demons have grown in power and control. To have a weapon the demons fear,” he said wistfully, “would change everything.”
“I will say this, Silurian, going to Kason will be certain to be good for the boy.”
“Why do you say that with such conviction, Alira?”
“Because it will get him out of this castle, and away from you,” she said, with only slightest hint of a grin.
“Hmmmph,” he grunted. “You may be right, old woman. You may be right.”
Chapter 51
With the completion of the amulet, there was nothing left to hold Jonny to the castle. The Master completed the arrangements he had worked out previously so Jonny could become Master Kason’s apprentice following Mid-winter day. The whole affair was highly irregular, but everyone in the castle had become used to how the normal rules did not apply to Jonny . . . everyone that is except Jonny. He still felt like he was somehow breaking his apprenticeship, even though Master Silurian reiterated he had not, and required that Jonny return and report to him monthly.
So it was, that in the coldest days of winter, Jonny left the castle Salaways to live in Alavar, slightly more than three years after he had arrived. He went as he had come, in a carriage accompanied by Lord Feldar.
His reception by Master Kason was a cordial one. Master Kason was one of the leading masters in the city, even in the kingdom. Even so, having a new apprentice delivered personally by the Lord Chancellor of the kingdom was an occasion. Jonny suspected that the quarters he was given were almost certainly not the usual apprentice quarters; in fact, he guessed they had either belonged to one of Kason’s family, or been quarters for visiting guests. Several days later, talking to the other apprentices, he was able to confirm his guess.
§ § §
Master Kason did not seem quite sure how to treat Jonny. Jonny was certainly the age of an apprentice, and Master Silurian had left instructions that Jonny be treated as a normal apprentice, but Jonny and Master Kason knew Jonny would never be treated like one.
The next day after his arrival, Jonny dressed and presented himself to his new master to begin work.
“I’m told you’ve had some training in metalwork previously,” Master Kason began.
“Only a little, master. Just enough to enable me to produce this,” Jonny said pulling his amulet from under his shirt and showing it to the master metalworker.
Master Kason looked closely at the amulet. “Not bad. A bit rough and unfinished but not bad at all.” He continued looking at it. “Do you mind if I look at it more closely?”
“Not at all, master,” Jonny said, removing the thong that held it from around his neck.
Master Kason took the amulet and put it down under a glass that enlarged his view of it. He grunted. “This is enchanted, then?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“And I suppose these lines scribed into the surface have something to do with that?”
“They do,” Jonny said, offering nothing more.
“And I suppose you aren’t about to tell me what this amulet does?”
“I will if you require it, Master, but my uh, Master Silurian said it was best if I didn’t discuss what it does unnecessarily, since anyone can make it work if they know the proper keyword to activate it.”
“You mean I could use this, thing, to do whatever it does, if I knew the code word?”
“Yes, Master.”
“That is potent magic indeed that can be used by one of us non-wizarding folk. I can see why you don’t wish to reveal it, and I certainly won’t force you. I grow more uneasy with this arrangement all the time. How can I treat you like a common apprentice if you are already wizard enough to do things of this sort?”
“I don’t really know, Master, but I know that I can work and that there is much you can teach me. Try to forget where I come from and treat me just as an apprentice and I think we can make this work.”
Jonny really did want to succeed. In just the time he had been there, he had seen weapons and jewelry of a level of artistry that it made him ache with desire to learn how to create the same himself. Once again, Master Silurian had proved to be correct in what Jonny needed to develop the talents he had.
“Well then we shall give it a try,” Master Kason said smiling and giving Jonny a warm pat on the shoulder.
“How old did you say you were?” Master Kason asked.
“Nearly fourteen, sir.”
“That old eh?” he grunted. “I’d have not guessed you at more than twelve and scrawny at that.” Jonny cringed. “Don’t worry, son,” he said smiling down at Jonny, “We’ll soon put some meat on those bones and many a lad doesn’t begin to really grow till after his fourteenth birthday. No, don’t worry, you’ll grow soon enough. And even if you don’t, a jeweler doesn’t need muscle or size, but precision. From what I see with this amulet of yours,” he said handing it back to Jonny. “I’d say you already have more than your share of precision. With a little training, you could become a worthy artisan regardless of your magic.
“Are you ready to start work then?”
“Yes, Master Kason,” Jonny replied eagerly.
“Then, the first thing you need to know is that here only the customers call me ‘Master Kason.’ You’ll call me Master, or just Kason, it’s what all my workers do.”
“Yes, M-Master,” Jonny said, unsure what name to use.
“That’ll do, son,” Kason said grinning, “That or Kason is fine. Now how much do you know about getting the different metals ready to be used . . . .”
§ § §
Jonny’s education began anew. Kason was a patient teacher. He or one of the journeymen explained to Jonny each of the various processes going on in the shop. Kason’s was one of the few places that did both armory and jewelry. He had many orders from far and wide for weapons that were more for show than for use: Jewel encrusted swords, daggers, armor, and the like. But Kason’s craftsmanship was such that even ornamental weapons would also serve as well or better than any plain weapon if called into battle.
Jonny had never worked so hard in his life. Even before he was apprenticed to The Master, when he was living as a slave, Jonny had not been so tired at the end of a day. In the beginning, Jonny mostly observed what his new master, the various journeymen, and apprentices did. He observed while hauling materials, holding pieces while they were hammered on, and cleaning up after the very messy business that was metalwork.
No matter what the weather outside, it was hot in the workshop. In the winter when Jonny began, it was comfortable, but as the weather turned, it grew more and more furnace like.
Kason insisted that Jonny learn every aspect of trade, from the converting of ore into metal, all the way to tempering and polishing the finishe
d product. It was hot, sweaty, dirty work, and Jonny loved it. He learned to work wearing nothing but the heavy protective leather apron that wrapped to cover his behind, gloves and boots that were needed to protect his body from heat and flying ash and metal.
Kason’s prediction that Jonny would put some muscle on his frame was soon verified, but it was not a painless process. For the first three weeks Jonny worked in the shop, he awoke each morning barely able to move from the stiffness in his abused muscles. It generally took him most of the morning to get over being stiff. Soon after, he was usually in simple pain from performing some new chore his muscles were unaccustomed to doing. In those first three weeks, he wondered if he would ever be able to move again without pain. But Jonny was young, and after those first weeks, he was better able to bear the pain, and it troubled him less and less.
Chapter 52
When Jonny returned to the castle to make his first progress report to The Master in five weeks, forty-five days, after he had begun his new apprenticeship, he was surprised by how much he had changed. Jonny knew that he was getting stronger, but he did not really think much about it. He was shocked by how everyone else at the castle reacted. Every person who saw him stopped and gawked. At first Jonny thought that they were staring at the metal worker’s apprentice clothes he wore, but he soon realized it was not only that, it was something about him. Finally, he could not take it anymore since everyone looked, but no one said anything to him.
“Just what is it you’re staring at?” Jonny yelled at Carlik, when he saw the young apprentice.
“Well, it’s, ah, ah . . . you look so different, Jonny,” Carlik stammered.
“What do you mean, different? It is it the clothes? What?”
“Well, no, um, it’s not the clothes, Jonny, you just . . . just look different, really different, that’s all,” he said and ran off.
Jonny was annoyed. He did not know what was different, but it bothered him to come back to the place he thought of as home and have everyone treat him like a person returned from the dead. He had only been gone a month, five weeks. He was not that different. Jonny was even more shocked when Master Silurian also gave him the same strange look.
Now Jonny was mad.
“What is it?” he demanded. “Everyone in here looks at me like I have leprosy or something. I can understand them being put off, but not you, Master. What is it?”
The Master said nothing for a moment, just looked at Jonny and then brought him over in front of the full length mirror he had at one end of his study, a mirror which Jonny had seen himself in many times before. He simply said, “Look at yourself, and tell me what you see.”
When Jonny looked, he finally understood. While the jewelry shop had a full-length mirror, it was for customers and Jonny had never bothered to look at himself in it. In fact, he had not really looked at himself other than in the reflection of polished metal for the last 45 days, now he saw. Now he understood.
If he had been walking down the street and seen his reflection, he would not have recognized it for him. He was not any taller, but nearly everything else about him had changed. Where before his skin had always been pale, now it was a burned brown, rough and chapped. Where before his face had been soft and very childlike, now it had edges, and creases. There was something, a look of someone older, much older.
But none of that could compare with what he saw of his arms. His arms had always been thin scrawny things, now they had muscles, real muscles. His skin looked stretched tight over the arms and the muscles were very clearly visible like cords under the flesh. The muscle continued up his shoulders and neck to the edges of his jaw. He stared down at his arms and hands as if he had never seen them before. It was a shock.
“Now do you understand?” The Master asked quietly.
“Yeah, I guess I do. I really do look different don’t I?
“I guess that’s what Master Kason meant when he said he thought that you’d see my progress right away.”
“I would guess that would be the case,” The Master chuckled. “It never ceases to amaze me how rapidly it can happen to a boy when it’s time.”
“Time for what?”
“Time for his body to begin the change from boy to man. You are well on you way, Jonny, well on you way, indeed. You may even be taller than me by this time next year.”
Jonny, who was still a foot shorter than The Master, could not believe that he would ever be two feet taller, but then, looking at this person he saw in the glass, he decided The Master might be right. That would be strange.
Jonny was eager to tell The Master about all he had learned. They talked for hours and Master Silurian was very impressed by all Jonny told him. He had a sort of half grin on his face that Jonny had only rarely seen.
The Master wanted Jonny to stay the night, but Jonny said he had promised to be back that evening, so he compromised by staying for dinner. After dinner, in order to get back in time he used the amulet to become invisible and flew nearly the whole way back. Jonny gloried in the freedom of it and vowed that he would not allow himself to be so caught up in his new apprenticeship that he would not take time out to practice his other talents. He had spent the whole month without using magic once and now remembered how much fun it could be too. Best of all, magic did not make his muscles ache.
§ § §
The next day as Jonny was going about his work. He was again struggling under the weight of a bucket of slag from the forge he had been cleaning, when he suddenly remembered his vow of the night before. He set down the bucket and laughed.
“What are you laughing at?” one of the journeymen asked.
“I just . . . it’s just that I remembered I’ve been working too hard,” Jonny said still laughing.
“Looks to me like you’re not working hard enough!” growled the journeyman. “I’ve got work to do that’s waiting on that forge. Now get to it and finish cleaning it.”
Jonny probably would have been mad, but he was still laughing at himself. He answered in mock seriousness. “Yes sir, right away, sir. Anything you say, sir.”
The journeyman obviously could not make up his mind whether Jonny was mocking him or not. He looked ready to scold Jonny further when the heavy bucket Jonny had been hauling suddenly left the ground of its own accord and floated towards the slag pit.
Work in that part of the shop came to a sudden halt as everyone watched the bizarre phenomenon. Jonny had been doing such a good job of playing the part of an earnest apprentice that everyone had nearly forgotten just who, and what, he was. Now this floating bucket forcefully reminded them.
Kason came in and was about to reprimand his workers for the sudden stoppage until someone pointed and he saw what they were all staring at. Unlike the others, he did not act as if it was something strange. He just looked for a moment and then yelled, “What are you all staring at? I see no dancing girls. I see a bucket of slag getting dumped. Get back to your work.”
He came over to Jonny who was now looking a bit sheepish. He stood by him watching until the bucket had dumped its load and returned to Jonny’s feet.
“Nice trick, that,” he said, still looking out towards the slag pit, “but I think you’ll need to be a bit more subtle in the future. I don’t think Master Silurian wanted most people to know you were anything other than an ordinary apprentice.”
“Yes, I guess you’re right, Kason,” Jonny said. He had gotten used to calling him that since everyone else did. “I’ll try to be less obvious, but I just remembered last night that I can do things different from everyone else.”
“That’s surely true, boy, but we don’t want to raise any jealousies or let any of my customers know. The lads here were sworn to secrecy before you arrived so I don’t think they’ll talk, but there’s nothing to stop the town gossips if someone sees something like this.”
The Apprentice to Zdrell Page 28
