Her worry was a little more self-centred.
“My lords...” Cindy paused hesitantly.
“Yes?”
“What if I made a mistake? What if he really isn’t a wizard?”
“Is there something you wish to add to your report? Something you may have forgotten to mention?”
There were a few things she had left out. Like how she had fallen asleep while she waited outside his house, how she had poked him to see if he was actually real or a figment of her imagination. But those were minor details, nothing that needed to be shared.
“No, my lord.”
“A wizard born to Wanderers is not a claim we take lightly. Others were sent to verify. He is what you say,” Lord Lipton said lazily, staring at his nails.
A weight seemed to lift off her chest just then and she let out a long silent breath, feeling relieved and a little lightheaded. They weren’t about to make such an important decision based on her report alone. She noticed Lord Lipton’s nails. They were quite long. Maybe he should consider cutting them.
“There is more,” Lord Colborne said. “Lord Dragunov does not approve of the boy coming to our side. As I am sure you are aware, he is a fervent supporter of removing the Great Barrier, conquering the world, enslaving the Wanderers, you know.” He waved his hand in the air dismissively. “He isn’t alone in his views. Their support seems to grow every day.” Lord Colborne paused to stare at her.
Cindy wondered why he was telling her this. It wasn’t that she didn’t already know it, everyone did. But why was he telling her? What did he want from her?
“The School of Merlin is in the Land of the Free,” Lord Colborne said. “No man from any House would openly harm him there. But the Le Fays do have many fanatical supporters.” He paused again. “You are to keep watch over him and protect him from harm’s way. It would be a shame if the boy were to die before we truly understand what he is.”
Cindy blinked twice as she realised her worry had been misplaced. It was Tom whose life was in danger, not hers. If they brought him here and the Le Fays managed to get a hold of him...
“Is that understood?” Lord Colborne asked.
“Yes, my lord,” Cindy said automatically.
Was she really going to bring the boy here, to a place where he would be more of a misfit than he already was? To a place where he would be fiercely hated by so many? What other option did she have? Could she refuse a lord?
“You will not need to report to anyone. You are there simply to protect him. We have others in the school – if he really is a wizard born to Wanderers, well...”
Lord Colborne reached into his pocket and pulled out a purple pouch. He threw it towards Cindy. It glided in the air before landing in her open palm. Inside it was dust, gold dust.
“Use it wisely,” Lord Colborne said, “and bring us our boy wizard.”
Chapter 3
Cindy stood opposite the Great Bazaar. Wizards and witches dressed in the finest of cloaks and sporting a lot of shiny metals walked past the two great pillars, going in and out. She had passed the bazaar many times before without entering. She had only a little gold dust, and none to spare.
Today was different. Cindy stepped out from between the carriages and stared up at the enormous pillars as she crossed the road. There was faded calligraphy etched into them, but she didn’t get a chance to read it.
Distracted by her curiosity, she veered into the path of wizards and witches coming out. They collided into her roughly. Some moved along, ignoring her, others showed signs of contempt. Cindy was ready to apologise, but they didn’t want one – not from her.
Once past the pillars the bazaar opened up to floor above floor with row after row of shops, all beneath a glass dome. It was spectacular and she felt a little intimidated. The passers-by didn’t help.
A few looked her up and down before visibly shaking their heads in disdain. Her cloak was simple and she had no expensive metal on. She was out of place. She knew that. They did too.
But they didn’t have to be so rude about it. The way some of them carried themselves, you would have thought they were the Lord and Lady Zarlock reincarnated. She imagined battling a few, watching the smugness disappear from their faces as they hit the ground.
Cindy shook her head to rid the image. She had more important things to worry about than what some lordlings thought of her. She had never watched over anyone before. What made it worse was that Tom was her responsibility. She had found him. She was going to bring him over.
They would hate him. They already did. Word had spread of the wizard born to Wanderers. The news was not received well. She had seen some of the angry crowds, shouting and screaming. Apparently, one such mob had burnt down the Bazaar of Wonders. It took a special kind of idiot to confuse Wonders with Wanderers.
It wasn’t just idiots that she had to keep an eye out for. The Le Fays were her main concern. She had a plan, but she was beginning to think that any plan where her head could go missing was a bad one. She didn’t want to die just yet.
Cindy stopped in front of a watch shop. They were pretty. Some were golden, others silver, green, red even. They all had two things in common: they told the time and they were pretty.
But a watch wouldn’t work.
She moved on, past the various shops, pausing briefly in front of a jeweller. She was tempted by the rings on display. They were small and could have slipped off his finger. But it wouldn’t explain the sharp poke he would feel.
A few shops later, and Cindy found something that would.
Quills.
They were perfect.
All she had to do now was choose one that was expensive and looked it too. It was for a lord. They weren’t very discreet about what they had. A phoenix-feathered diamond encrusted quill caught her eye.
Cindy picked it up and approached the counter where a young man sat slouched reading a paper.
“I wish to purchase this.” She waved the quill in front of his eyes, hoping to get his attention.
It worked, sort of. He looked up; his dull eyes bore into hers before he sighed lazily. “And I would like to ride on the back of a dragon,” he said before returning to his paper.
She wanted to punch him then for being so rude. He was like her, not rich or powerful. Actually, he was worse than her. He was just a shopkeeper! But she didn’t punch him. She gritted her teeth and waited for the anger to pass.
“How much?”
“Gold,” he replied without looking up. “Lots of it.”
Cindy reached into her cloak pocket and pulled out the pouch of gold dust Lord Colborne had given her. She threw it at him. It bounced off his chest and landed on his lap. His eyes widened as he saw the gold dust inside, and he almost fell off his chair as he jumped to attention.
“I beg your forgiveness, my lady,” he said quickly.
He was staring at her anew, fear in his eyes. She almost chuckled out loud. A large part of her wanted to toy with him, to make him sweat.
“I trust that is enough gold?”
“Y-Yes, my lady,” he stammered.
“It is a gift for a nephew of mine. I would like it wrapped in something suitable,” she said. “And once you have done that, I would like to see the Master of the shop.” She smiled cruelly. “He is about?”
The young man’s face paled. “T-The M-M-Master of the shop?”
“I wish to exchange words with him,” she said curtly.
She didn’t really mean to have him reprimanded. It was just a bit of fun on her part. But he did something unexpected. He dropped to his knees and brought his head to the ground near her feet. “Please, my lady,” he said. “Please.”
It was a good thing his head was down, Cindy thought. It wouldn’t have done for him to have seen her jump back in surprise. She decided she had had her fun. All she wanted now was to have her quill and be out of this place.
But what was she supposed to do?
“Rise?”
It was a question. B
ut the man was too terrified to realise, and he rose as if commanded. He stood stupidly for a moment before he remembered why he had risen. He rushed behind the counter and pulled out a fine piece of cloth to wrap the quill in.
He brought himself down on one knee and held it out to her.
Cindy took the quill from him and walked out of the shop. She had paid too much for it. There was enough gold in that pouch to pay for at least two such quills. But she couldn’t ask for change. Not after he had thought her a lady, not after he had begged at her feet.
It wasn’t like she needed the gold anymore. She had what she required. Now she just had to go through with her plan. But that would have to wait. It was time to pay the mysterious little wizard another visit.
***
It was another bright summer’s day on the Other Side. Cindy didn’t wait outside Thomas Skinner’s house. She went to the park. And he was there, like she knew he would be.
He sat on the bench alone, staring ahead at the other children as they kicked a ball and ran after it. She never did understand why they did that. Surely they knew the ball would move if it was kicked?
Cindy hesitantly walked towards Tom, wondering what she was doing even thinking about taking him to her side. He would hate it there. Wizards and witches didn’t have much respect for those that weren’t like them. And Tom’s parents were Wanderers, a race a large number of wizards had started to dislike of late.
And then there were the Le Fays, who would probably want his head on a spike...
Tom didn’t look up as she sat next to him. He stared ahead, but she knew he wasn’t watching the children. He was somewhere else.
“Hello, Thomas,” Cindy said with her best smile.
He jumped, startled by her sudden presence.
“Uh... Hello,” he stammered.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“No- hello.”
Cindy laughed and Tom looked away as his face reddened. He was a shy boy. It wasn’t a surprise. She didn’t think he had many people to talk to. Wanderers had this strange ability to look through wizards as if they were invisible.
That was what Tom was in this world – invisible. She was going to take him away from that to a place where he would be the complete opposite, and not in a good way. Cindy needed to start talking and stop thinking before she decided against obeying the lords.
“So... what’re you doing?”
Small talk – that was what she was going with? She hadn’t really thought this bit through. How should she tell him? What if he didn’t want to come back with her?
“Sitting on the bench?” Tom said.
He was looking at her again, curiosity mixed with apprehension. He had shifted a little away from her too. He was nervous of her. She didn’t blame him. She had poked him the last time.
“What do you know about wizards?” Cindy asked, ditching the small talk.
“Wizards?” he mumbled.
“Wizards, witches, werewolves, giants, dragons, trolls, goblins, pixies, fairies, what do you know about them?”
“Huh?”
Had she overdone it a little? Maybe she should have just stuck with wizards for the moment. It wouldn’t do to overwhelm him with too much information.
“Do you believe in magic?”
He didn’t answer but he stared at her warily and she knew instantly that he did. But he wasn’t going to tell her, not yet anyway. He barely knew her, and she hadn’t given him much reason to trust.
“You’re a wizard, Thomas,” she said encouragingly.
“Ok...” came the hesitant reply.
It was going to take more than just words to convince him. She had to show him. And she knew just how. The Wanderers had a saying for this – two birds with one stone.
“You’re like me,” she said. “Look.” She pointed towards the children kicking the ball.
Cindy gave a slight wave of her hand. The ball came to a sudden stop. The boy closest tripped and fell to the ground as he tried to budge it with the side of his foot. The ball stayed where it was as another tried to move it without any luck. Slowly, they all gathered around the ball. But no matter how hard they kicked, it did not move.
“Isn’t that much better?” Cindy said, satisfied. “They don’t have to run after it anymore.”
Tom’s eyes shifted from her to the ball and back to her again. “What are you going to do with me?”
“Do with you?” Her eyes narrowed as she wondered what he meant. She wasn’t going to do anything with him.
“Are you going to take me away?”
It dawned on her then. He was afraid. But he shouldn’t have been. She was a good person. She was going to take him away. But that was different. It was.
“Not if you don’t want to come,” Cindy said, though she knew that was a lie. He didn’t have a choice. If she didn’t bring him, someone else would. “You can stay here if you want to. You can go to school with the Wanderers. You can forget you ever met me.” She paused before adding, “Or you can come with me and go to a school full of witches and wizards.”
She hoped he picked the latter. It would make everything so much easier.
“What’s a wanderer?”
“That’s what we call-” Cindy paused. She had never had to explain what a Wanderer was before. “It’s what we call those living on the Other Side.”
“What side?”
That was another thing she had never had to explain.
“It’s a long story,” she said before quickly adding, “do you want to come?”
“You want me to choose now?” Tom asked incredulously.
“Well...” Cindy shrugged.
She was being unfair. She was asking a lot from him, and he barely knew her. But she did need him to say yes.
“Hey,” she put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently, “you’ll like the other side. It’s a magical place, full of people like us.”
She knew those words would have an effect on him. Historically, wizards and Wanderers had never gotten along, and it was obvious much had not changed as Tom sat alone on the bench, friendless.
She knew what to say to convince him. And she hated herself for saying it, for appealing to his loneliness, for lying.
“You’ll fit in,” she said.
Chapter 4
“Mum said you’re going away.”
Tom looked up from his book to see Emily standing at the door. He put the book away as she walked in and sat on his bed.
“She said you’re going to a special school.”
He nodded.
“And that we won’t see you for a year.”
That was what Cindy had told his parents. He was special, she had said. She didn’t tell them how he was special. They were a little apprehensive at first. That changed once Cindy showed them a brochure of the school.
Tom wished he could have gotten a look at that brochure. It must have been something quite amazing. His parents had agreed to let him go off with a stranger somewhere they knew not for a whole year without being able to keep in touch.
He thought that a little odd. Why couldn’t he keep in touch? Surely a phone call here, an email there and a letter every so often couldn’t hurt? They did have those things where he was going, didn’t they? Where was he going?
Cindy still hadn’t really told him. There had been some more talk of the Other Side, Wanderers and something about a Great Barrier. It didn’t make much sense to him.
“Is it because of what you can do?” Emily asked.
He had never really gotten along with his sister. Apparently that was normal between siblings. They fought over every little thing. And she could be quite cruel too, always teasing, always calling him Sarah.
He hated that name.
It was the name his parents had given him before he was born. They thought he was going to be a girl. They had told the story a million times, how they painted his room pink, bought him all girly clothes and toys and how, they would laugh at this po
int, they had even named him Sarah.
Emily thought it was the funniest thing ever.
It wasn’t.
“She said I was a wizard,” Tom told her.
It had been over a year now since he'd realised he was different. It started with little things, like pencils moving towards his hand as he reached for them. It frightened him at first. He worried there might be something wrong with him. He had to tell someone. Emily was the closest thing he had to a friend. They didn’t always get along but she was his sister and he trusted her. So he told her, showed her.
And once she finally believed him she told him to keep it a secret, which he did. Nothing changed between them. They still fought all the time and he never tried to use his magic – as he now knew it to be – against her.
“A wizard,” Emily chuckled nervously.
Tom smiled. A wizard – it did sound pretty cool. Something he would definitely have picked as a career choice had it been an option.
“You’re leaving tomorrow?”
He nodded. Tomorrow morning, Cindy would come to take him. He would be gone for a whole year. Part of him still didn’t believe it, that he was a wizard and that he was going to go to a wizard school. What if Cindy had made a mistake?
“I’ll miss you...” Emily said.
She leaned forward and gave him a hug.
He didn’t say it.
But he would miss her too.
***
It was the morning that Cindy said she would come for him. He would be gone for a year, she had said, so pack properly. He was supposed to have packed by now. But he hadn’t.
Tom had never travelled before. He didn’t know what to pack. And even if he had known, he didn’t have a suitcase to pack it in – because he had never travelled before. And his parents hadn’t thought to buy him one either. In fact, their behaviour had been a little odd of late...
He wondered if Cindy would really show. He still had his doubts. Going to a wizard school – it was a lot like a few stories he had read. If she did turn up though, he was certain she wouldn’t be pleased with him.
The Other Side (Thomas Skinner Book 1) Page 2
