“I don’t get why anyone would not want to embrace their magic” Dax said shaking his head.
“You owe me a new chain bastard” Connor said holding up his amulet.
“Mages are stronger but they lack finesse for the little things in life” Dax said as he grabbed both ends of the chain with his magic then heated them up and fused them together, he finished it up by cooling the joined ends. “The strongest mage couldn’t have done that bit of magic.”
“You really have mastered your control” Morgan said with an appreciative nod. “Your speed is pretty good as well.”
“None of that will matter in a real battle” Connor said as he waved his hand dismissively. “A mage can take down a small army alone.”
“A small army isn’t in here though is it?” Dax replied. “Just you and your busted ass chain.”
“Your parlor tricks mean nothing” Connor replied. “The average sideshow trickster can do much of the same using misdirection and trickery. If a real fight breaks out everyone wants an actual mage.”
“I agree” Dax replied. “If I need something destroyed then I will call a mage. Morgan do you need anything destroyed at the moment?”
“Not that I can think of” Morgan replied.
“Me neither” Dax replied. “Well looks like no one needs you little Connor.”
“Don’t call me that” Connor said and furrowed his eyebrows.
“Don’t call you what?” Dax asked. “You don’t want to be called Little Connor?”
“You can call me whatever you want but at the end of the day you will still be a bastard” Connor said triumphantly. “And I don’t expect mere wizards to acknowledge the greatness of mages. You both want to make each other feel better so you pretend not to be jealous of me and my power.”
“I think our ruse is up Morgan” Dax replied. “We might as well admit the countless nights we stayed up crying ourselves to sleep over a tankard of ale about being the lesser magic users.”
“Laugh it up bastard” Connor said and looked out the window. “No one is impressed with you, no one will ever be impressed with you.”
“You just saw me earn my gold glove” Dax replied. “It means nothing to you but anyone who has been in the army either past or present will look at it with instant respect. You will be just another faceless asshole noble.”
“Who cares what the commoners think” Connor replied. “No one that really matters cares anything about some glove. I can go buy a complete pair instead of just wandering around with one.”
CHAPTER 4
The House of Magic
Dax looked himself over in the mirror, he looked like a complete idiot in the outfit he was given. The school had went out of its way to make sure he knew he wasn’t welcomed, he was bedded down with the servants and what they gave him to wear looked like it was designed by a blind man. The mages wore long robes that flared out at the end of the sleeves and had a large hood attached, the robes were purple, a color by law that could only be worn by nobles. The robes they gave Dax to wear looked like someone and sewn a bunch of potato sacks together and called it good. The sleeves were narrow and there was no hood. The rough material and the tan color made him look like he was a field hand instead of someone who was at the school to learn. Dax looked at outfit and concentrated, he could use the same melding spell he used on wood. The outfit rippled for a second then any individual threads disappeared. The outfit became softer without stray strands poking him but it was still stiff to walk around in. The outfit rippled again and became more malleable, Dax had used his magic to make to the outfit move back in forth so it would be as comfortable as any well worn garment. His final result wasn’t a masterpiece but it definitely looked better than it had before. Dax hiked up the robe and strapped on his sword, a little magic and he had a slit in which to draw the weapon from. Dax walked out of the big room he shared with many servants and went to the auditorium, today was the official first day of school and he would have to deal with everyone.
“There he is” Dax heard a whisper as he walked across the training grounds.
Dax ignored it and figured he would be infamous to start off the training but soon enough the nobles would ignore him. Nobles cared more about themselves than anyone and would rather talk about how great they were instead of tearing anyone down. Dax was just about to enter the building when a strong blast of wind threw him violently in the air and crashing into a mud puddle. Dax got up and looked around and could see a group of mages laughing and pointing at him, Dax vibrated his outfit quickly and the mud and dirt flew off of it as he walked into the building.
“Sit in the back bastard” a sour face mage said as he looked at Dax. The mage was around fifty Dax thought and carried himself like he was the best thing since free ale.
“My name is Dax Davary” Dax replied.
“I don’t care what your name is bastard” the mage said with a sneer. “I’ll call you what you are, which is a bastard.”
“I don’t mind being a bastard you sour faced old crone” Dax replied. “At the end of the day I look better than you ever will. I don’t have a crooked nose, beady eyes or a chest so thin that my nipples face each other. Bastard or not you wish you had my good looks but you don’t, you look like the aftermath of a birth gone wrong.”
“How dare you!” the mage growled.
“No I dare you” Dax replied. “I am not going to be cowed by you.”
“Starting trouble already?” said a blonde haired boy as he looked at Dax. Dax hadn’t ever seen the mage but he knew exactly who he was. The boy had ash blond hair and pale blue eyes, just like Dax himself. That is where their similarity ended, the prince had a thin face with a crooked hooked nose, thin lips and ears that stuck out too far from his head. The prince had one of the weakest chins he had ever seen, similar to the mage Dax had just told off. It took Dax a moment to realize the men must be related, the sour faced man was definitely not Duke Nettleton as the Duke wouldn’t have any reason to be teaching at the school. Neither would any of Duke Nettleton’s children, this man had to be a cousin or something of that nature in relation to the prince.
“Your Highness” Dax said with a bow. Dax wasn’t stupid enough to mouth off to the prince no matter what he said. Prince Asher was so far down in line to the throne that even if eight or nine people died he still wouldn’t have a chance to be king. Prince Asher though was a mage and none of his first cousins on his father’s side were. Dax was a little surprised to see him there and figured the prince would have gone the next year, his grandfather Duke Nettleton had a granddaughter a year younger and would be attending training next year. “I am not starting trouble, merely defending myself.”
“Leave him alone cousin” Prince Asher said looking at the sour face mage. “I suspect he has been through enough just growing up. No need to dump on him more than the students here will.”
“He is a bastard and just by living is an insult to your mother” the sour face mage said angrily.
“He is a student here and you are an instructor” Prince Asher replied. “Besides we both know my father is a womanizer and Herschel is a little bit older than me and my sister. I doubt you are ignorant of how I was brought into this world, my father got his mother pregnant before he sweet talked mine. I do not share in whatever hatred my mother has or the embarrassment my father does. I will let my sister do the hating in this family, if anything I am jealous of his looks. He does look like a better version of father does he not?”
“He is a bastard” the sour face man grumbled. “A commoner who somehow has magical ability no matter how feeble it may be.”
“Why does that bother you?” Prince Asher replied. “Herschel is a wizard, he can't have any children.”
“I go by Dax now Your Highness” Dax said looking at the prince. “And I am happy to say I think I misjudged your character.”
“You assumed I was like most of the people you met here so far?” Prince Asher replied. “I have no reason to hate you and
have always wanted to meet you. Of course my mother and father would have both forbid it out of embarrassment but here we are. You can call me Asher” Prince Asher finished as he stuck out his arm.
“Dax Davary” Dax replied as he excepted the greeting.
“Davary?” Asher asked.
“After the man who raised me” Dax replied. “Dax is his middle name, I took it as tribute.”
“That is only fair” Asher replied. “Let's sit in the back, it is out of the way and I get the chance to meet my brother.”
Dax followed Asher and sat down in the back corner. Other mages started filing in wearing their purple robes and Dax was not surprised to see the class was tiny compared to army training, it was ten magic users in all including him and his brother. All the chairs in the room must have been for show, Dax doubted they had ever filled them all. Dax did get a chance to get a good look at two of the other students he had heard about. His sister Ashley was Asher’s twin and easily spotted by her ash blonde hair, the girl gave Dax the once over followed by a sneer. Dax thought she was ugly already and the sneer she gave him did nothing to make her look better. The other student was the wizard, she came in and sat alone and Dax could see Asher was more than interested.
“Students” a female mage said with more than a few strands of grey in her red hair. The woman looked around the room and made eye contact with Asher and Dax but said nothing. “This is one of the biggest classes we have had in some time, while not all of you are mages or even nobles, you still have an important obligation to this kingdom. During this time you will make a decent sum of money but before that we have to prepare you to fight for our lands. Commoners are too weak to fight off our enemies, the magic you learn here will give them the courage to protect themselves. For our mage students, you will all begin in the same class and as some of you progress faster than your peers you will have the chance to move up to more advanced study. I know all of you are versed in the basics of magic so this will be painless, I will hand each of you a spell book with almost all known spells. Wizard students you can do whatever, I am not even sure where you fit into the kingdom.”
Dax saw the Duke’s daughter deflate a little at the slight and shook his head. Dax thought she was insane for even letting someone take her shine away.
“You like that one don’t you?” Dax said and gestured to the Duke’s daughter with his chin. “What is her name?”
“Lady Bethany Bartlett” Asher replied. “She has always been standoffish but she is as pretty as they come.”
“Why don’t you throw your sword into the ring then?” Dax asked.
“Throw my sword where?” Asher replied.
“Why don’t you let her know that you are interested” Dax replied. “Many would shack up with a bird like that for the gold alone. You have your own money so she won't eliminate you when she ignores the greedy freeloaders.”
“Look at me Dax” Asher replied. “I am an thin ugly man with a horrible looking nose.”
“So what” Dax replied. “I am the bastard son of a prince, damn near everyone hates on me. The commoners see someone with noble blood they can insult or attack and get away with it, the nobles see a commoner masquerading as one of them. Do you think I care even a little bit about what they think?”
“But that is different” Asher replied. “I do care about what she thinks, it’s no fair I got the worst of the looks while you look like a better version of father. I don’t even have any muscles and I can tell underneath all of that clothing that you do.”
“I worked for these” Dax began. “I have been training with the blade since I could walk.”
“Well I know the sword” Asher replied. “Well sort of, the only thing I have really practiced is my magic.”
“Well if you want some help with the muscle I got you there” Dax replied. “It won't be easy and you will leave here sore as hell. I even got a special workout for folks who just want the muscles without all the functionality.”
“Functionality?” Asher asked.
“I work out to become a better swordsman and athlete” Dax began. “I have to keep pushing myself to become faster and stronger. They call that functional muscle, show muscles are big but they are just that, they are for show. You will be plenty strong and the women will look at you like a hungry man looks at steak. You won't be a better swordsman and it might even hurt your form and technique since big muscles take a lot of work to move around.”
“I am a mage Dax” Asher replied. “And even if I weren’t I doubt I would ever need to be fighting off some brigand, I am a prince.”
“Well then I think while we are here you will be able to put on a bit of muscle” Dax said as a shudder went through him. “My father did it to me once and some other poor guy just to build some base muscle.”
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Asher asked. “Like you are reveling in some future pain of mine.”
“Because I am reveling in it” Dax said laughing. “You have to eat a bunch of tasteless food and some nasty herbs and things. Just looking you I think we can put on a good bit of muscle, you are going to hate every minute of it.”
“Why are you back here with the royal bastard” Ashley said as the audience ended.
“I am back here with our brother” Asher replied as he stood up.
“You are back here with an abomination” Ashley snarled. “If mother and father knew you were cavorting with him they would…”
“But they are not here are they?” Asher replied. “You are a fool for not wanting to meet your own brother. You already don’t have many people you can hang around that is not looking for something. I am going to hang out and get to know him and we are the only family you have here.”
“He is not my family” Ashley replied. “And you are wrong Asher, Dawn is on her way here as well.”
“Dawn?” Asher said confused. “She is not yet old enough, why would she want to come here now instead of enjoying her last year doing nothing? Once she graduates here her commitment would start.”
“Because she didn’t want come alone” Ashley replied. “I would have waited on her but I was listening to you about coming here. You knew this thing would be here didn’t you?”
“He attacked me already” Connor said as he joined the conversation.
Dax had heard enough and got up out his seat and gave Asher a smile then walked away. He was surprised Asher was as down to earth as he was and figured he would do everything he could to help him out. First thing though Dax needed to do was to meet up with Morgan and find out about his studies, he was unsure but doubted Morgan had anything more to show him. Most magic would just take practice but at least he wasn’t a mage, they had an entire book they had to remember. Mages could not just vary the intensity on their spells, they would need to remember an entirely different spell. Dax caught sight of Morgan and followed him outside to another building set aside from the rest. The building was a small stone building that looked like someone had recently cleaned it up a bit. Inside was bigger than it looked thanks to a recessed floor. There were three chairs set along the wall and three more set in the middle of the room behind three small tables that had books in front of them. Dax saw Morgan sit behind one of them and took a seat in one of the others.
“A book?” Dax asked. “We don’t have any spells to remember.”
“That is true but the book holds ideas” Morgan replied. “Like the spell you use to straighten out your clothes. Here comes your classmate now.”
“Hello” Dax said and gave the girl a smile.
“Not interested” Bethany said as she waved him off.
Dax was shocked at the behavior, he could understand if she thought she was too good to be seen with a bastard. But she acted as if he was trying to come on to her, Bethany Bartlett was a cute woman but she was not his type. To wave him off as if he was after her or her money insulted him.
“Okay” Dax said wondering what the pit Asher saw in her.
“Why is any of
this even necessary” Bethany said exasperated. “We aren’t mages and will never be able to take down anyone with these little tricks. You both are idiots if you believe you can make any kind of difference.”
“Speak for yourself” Dax replied. “A big sword does a lot of damage but even the smallest dagger can make you regret your life choices. When you use the term idiot you must be talking about yourself, I don’t have to be a mage to make a difference.”
“Did you just call me an idiot?” Bethany asked.
“Of course not Milady” Dax replied. “I merely told you whatever self loathing you may have to keep it to yourself. I am more than happy being a wizard, just because you aren’t happy with yourself doesn’t mean you can torture us.”
“I don’t expect someone like you to understand” Bethany said angrily.
“Understand what?” Dax asked.
“To you having any kind of magic is the best thing in the world” Bethany began. “But I am supposed to be Duchess and I can't even have kids.”
“Of course no one in this room would know what it is like never being able to have children” Dax replied. “As I see it you are one of the most powerful people around without your magic. If you could, would you trade with me? If your life is just so horrible would you trade it for mine? Of course you wouldn’t, why would you want to be some poor commoner who also can't have children? I bet you have never even cooked your own meals before.”
“You don’t have everyone pitying you everywhere you go” Bethany replied. “So what they hate you, you can meet anger with more anger. How do you act when everyone looks and acts like your entire family just died? No one with any sense is going to take me seriously for a wife. As a commoner, you have plenty of people you can be with, there are many young women out there with children and no husband. You would know that better than anyone, wouldn’t you?”
“You got me there” Dax replied. “But seriously I think you over value being a mage. So what they are strong, there are only so many places they can use that magic. Morgan will teach you what he knows and I don’t mind helping you either. I went at it with that loud mouth Connor out there and I beat him.”
The Wizard Assassin Page 4
