Amelie: Wizards of White Haven

by Frances Howitt

  ‘Renovations? Please be more specific.’

  ‘Specifics? Ok. The stable block was falling down, unacceptable with winter upon us; the perimeter wall had holes big enough to drive a wagon through; the main gates wouldn’t even close; and the greenhouse had been shattered so the school could no longer grow its own food year around. I could go on, but I’m sure you’re getting a picture of the scale of the structural repairs necessary. Given that the school was nearly derelict and Vako told me he’d been categorically refused any aid by his Guild, I assumed no-one was particularly concerned about the school’s future. I must admit to being appalled that your next generation of wizards were thought so little of. But in answer to your original question, I took on the job because Vako begged me to. The old man’s strength is waning and I knew that I could make a real difference. I could also see great potential in the place.’ He paused, but Lord Aubrey motioned for him to continue while he sat down. ‘As for not approaching your Guild for a transfer, I’m not a fully qualified wizard to be allowed to take this matter into my own hands. I accepted the Headmaster role because no-one else wanted it. And it was on the understanding it was temporary, to help them put enough things to rights to survive the winter. As you pointed out, my training is incomplete. My own Guild will be expecting me to return to Beauforts in September for my final year. Of course, once I am fully accredited I’ll have little choice in where I am sent to serve, but it is highly unlikely to be here in a different country to my own. I imagine the same rules apply here, especially with war likely to encroach on your borders.’

  ‘What rule is this?’ Lord Aubrey asked Tobias, having noticed his nod of affirmation.

  ‘All wizards are assessed during their training. Guilds reserve the right to appoint their wizards where they are most needed according to their ability, certainly for their first assignment. We, of course, have not overseen your training Jim, and so are not privy to the notes and assessments already on your record. We have applied to your Guild for your records in the hope they will approve a transfer, but they have not been terribly forthcoming. We would not want to lose a Leach either,’ Tobias added pulling at his lip.

  ‘A Leach?’ Jim repeated. ‘What’s that?’

  ‘You don’t know what you are?’ Tobias was surprised, but perhaps Jim had been deliberately kept in the dark to curtail experimentation, and subsequent strength gains, until he returned to his Academy. There he could be closely monitored and restricted. ‘A Leach is the only wizard who can grow in magical strength beyond what he was born with. When a Leach merges with another wizard to combine strength for a spell, a small part of the other wizard’s strength is absorbed, especially if the Leach is the focus, or lead, in the spell. How exactly were these renovation projects you mentioned, accomplished?’

  ‘I merged all the wizard students,’ Jim told him.

  ‘All of them?’ Tobias asked, the colour draining from his face. ‘I mean, were all touching you?’

  ‘No. Vako led a merge of second years, another took the first years and I took the third years. Are you saying I might have absorbed a full year’s worth of students’ magic?’ He was not about to name Amelie; if they were interested in his ability, then she, as a warrior wizard, would also come under close scrutiny. They’d definitely want her “trained” and thus under their control if they feared his strength, and she was not already affiliated and thus protected elsewhere.

  ‘That’s exactly what a Leach could do,’ Tobias admitted. ‘How many people were in your group?’

  ‘Eight.’ So this was why he felt stronger, was able to do more than he ever had.

  Tobias nodded, relieved it wasn’t more. Yet the power he sensed coiled within Jim was already tangible. How strong was he really? It worried him that he simply couldn’t tell.

  ‘Does the strength of the wizard I merge with, make a difference?’

  ‘It’s bound to.’

  ‘And if I regularly merge with one wizard, what would happen? Would I weaken that person?’

  ‘To be honest, I don’t know. Leaches are rare, but I do know it is dangerous for a Leach to grow too quickly. Rapid increases in power will be difficult to adjust to and control. No-one wants an out of control wizard, or for unexpected side-effects to appear.’

  ‘Did you know what I was?’

  ‘Not until I met you. Someone did suggest it so I knew what to look for. Face to face I can see how mixed your aura is and with the odd reports we’ve received, I’m sure of it. You’ve been quite a puzzle.’

  ‘Puzzle, why? And what reports?’

  ‘Many people have been interested in keeping tabs on your movements. Now I know why. You may have thought you’ve been wandering the wilderness unnoticed, but you were not. Even in the secret, cloaked, enemy lands of South Rosh, you were monitored. We aided you where we could.’

  ‘Aided me? How?’

  ‘Your Guild contacted us after you’d gone through a Portal into enemy territory. They asked us to keep an eye on you as they were across the sea and too far away to be effective. They know we already keep watch on what is happening in South Rosh and we too would be concerned that a foreign wizard might fall into enemy hands and be used against us. So we cast a cloaking spell over you, to mask you from magical notice while you travelled. It is the main reason you were able to traverse the country and ultimately cross the border. South Rosh is heavily reliant on its wizards scanning for spies, treachery and indeed any strangers. The cloak could not of course hide you from direct sight,’ he added with a shrug, knowing Jim had been captured and held by Prince Casper himself. Fortunately he’d escaped before Casper could summon another wizard who would have realised just what a prize they held. A wizard would also notice the cloaking spell and be certain he was an enemy spy.

  ‘So, my Guild knows where I am and what I’ve been doing?’ Jim asked and received a nod. ‘Have they sent orders to you for me?’

  ‘Not as far as I know.’

  Jim pondered that, alongside everything else. Presumably that meant he could stay for the time being. The new school year in September, was most of a year away. Perhaps they intended to contact him nearer the time with instructions. It was both unsettling and strangely reassuring that people had been secretly watching him. His first thought was that his masters must care what happened to him, but in reality he knew it was simply because of what he was; an unusual asset. They had been keeping him in the dark about his potential; letting him believe he wasn’t particularly strong in his gifts. Now he knew that had actually been the case while he was at Beauforts; but only because they’d been restraining his growth. He’d never been the lead in a merge, although he had participated, lending his strength. He remembered feeling a real buzz of excitement after his first merge. He now wondered whether he’d actually been experiencing a high from the sudden and unexpected influx of strength. But in the months since then, Amelie, a powerful animus warrior wizard in her own right had been aiding his strength, unbeknownst to them both. He was tempted to ask whether a Leach could give power as well as receive it, but didn’t want Tobias any more suspicious of what he’d been doing, than he already was.

  ‘So, now you have met me, are you content with my remaining at White Haven for the winter?’

  ‘I would rather you went to our Guild headquarters and completed your training, even though you are not officially ours,’ Tobias admitted.

  ‘No,’ Lord Aubrey interjected, having been silently listening up to now. ‘The last thing we need is for him to become officially qualified. It sounds like a tug of war of ownership is imminent, the end result being he’d no longer be available to us. There are enough wizards sequestered at your Guild headquarters idly waiting for a war that might never happen. He is of far more use just where he is. Relieved parents and eager merchants have told me tale after tale of the improvements wrought at the school since his arrival. You have heard them too,’ he added to Tobias. Jim’s name and exploits had been a hot topic for weeks, especially as he had iso
lated himself in the school and no-one had met him socially. He knew Tobias had received numerous requests from local wizard parents wanting permission to swap schools and enrol their children closer to home at White Haven. Many had been thoroughly annoyed when asked to postpone any transfers, especially those that had visited White Haven and met this new young Headmaster. He had an earnest decency about him, along with tangible energy and considerable charisma that fostered trust. He had set right years worth of decay in an astonishingly short space of time. Clearly he was no procrastinator, but just went ahead and saw to what needed to be done. It was just the aid, and breath of fresh air, they needed.

  ‘The Eastern Council are involved too. They will have to approve his appointment, no matter how temporary it may be,’ Tobias reminded his lord. Too many had an interest in Jim now; his Guild had gone right to the top by approaching the Eastern leaders for aid rather than Edmoston alone and had effectively taken the matter out of Tobias’ hands.

  ‘Your Guild did not approach our regional Guild, Jim, but went straight to the leading council overseeing the whole East. All to request we keep an eye on a lost Novice. Why bring you under such close scrutiny if you weren’t dangerous? Of course we were all curious as to what it was about you that warranted such attention. The records detailing your character, strengths and weaknesses, together with academic scores, have not been released to us. That makes us nervous. Are they trying to hide that you have dangerous tendencies in your character? But most importantly; you have not completed your formal training and are not even a qualified wizard, Jim. Any one of those things would normally disbar an appointment as Head, never mind all. Running a school like White Haven is a big responsibility and we have a duty to the children and of course their parents, to properly vet a new authority.’

  ‘I understand,’ Jim said. ‘Actually I was shocked Vako would ask me, a stranger from overseas, to take on the job. If you have a more qualified person available to take over, then I will of course step aside.’ He threw in that offer and knew from Tobias’ frown that they didn’t have anyone they could, or were prepared to, send. If they had, surely they would have sent the person in answer to Vako’s requests months ago. How Drako would fare under a new regime concerned him. But Clan Green Bear’s presence at the school was an issue that only need be brought to light when he stepped down and then only if it was necessary and ultimately safe to do so.

  ‘Thank you for the offer,’ Tobias said formally. ‘If I may be excused,’ he said to Lord Aubrey, ‘I must make my report.’

  ‘My Lord, may I ask why two of my men have been detained?’ Jim asked once Tobias had left the room.

  Lord Aubrey eyed him. ‘Like you, they are strangers to my land as well as being animus warriors. Stating they were employed by another newcomer to our country, who happened to have taken leadership of a wizard academy and was reported to be a powerful wizard, was disturbing. You did not report in or ask permission from the local Guild but instead have begun fortifying the school as a priority. There has been the suggestion that an unknown, enemy faction could have secretly taken up residence and be building an army of those with magical ability.’

  Jim snorted, bemused. ‘The only thing I am fighting is getting supplies in before the onset of the winter snows. I’d heard the school had been attacked and could still see wagon sized holes in the perimeter walls. Naturally, given that threat, and that I am now responsible for the students’ safety, the repair of the walls was something I deemed a priority. So too as the school has always accepted animus students, it made sense to employ a few animus adults to take over the school’s external security. As a result of these simple measures, I have had dozens of new students enrol in the last week alone, both wizard and animus. I have been kept too busy to worry about things outside the walls. Vako never mentioned that I was expected to contact someone outside of the school for approval. I thought he’d had permission to offer me the job. The local Guild has never made itself known to me. It has denied Vako, one of its own, and who is a worn out old man now, any aid whatsoever. The school was evidently not of high concern to it. In answer to his call he was apparently advised to waylay me, a foreigner, for aid!’ Building an army! Well, in actual fact he already had a ready-made army within the walls, as Clan Green Bear were categorised. It didn’t seem to matter that they were a complete mixed bag of ages. They were certainly not a recognisable traditional army. But even the children knew how to handle a weapon and fight from a young age. Now however, their very mix of ages and lack of adult male warriors was a bonus. It helped Jim disguise them at the school. Once they all had homes and workshops to set up their individual trades, they would blend further, hiding the Green Bear identity in plain sight. He doubted anyone would notice what they were or view them as anything other than law-abiding villagers.

  ‘It would appear the wizards have been watching and waiting to see what you’d do,’ Lord Aubrey commented. ‘You’ve stirred up an ants-nest. About time they got off their backsides and took as much interest in White Haven as they do Brintock. It is their children’s future after all.’

  ‘Brintock?’

  ‘That’s the academy in Lord Asterbury’s domain to the west. You’ll find many of your new students are transferring from there, which of course isn’t popular with Brintock.’

  ‘Does Brintock accept animus?’

  ‘No. I believe White Haven is alone now in that stance. The rest have wimped out and bowed to pressure from the King, even though he has no right to interfere in the autonomy of wizards. I take it from what you’ve said so far, that you have no problem with animus people?’

  ‘No, I don’t. Their magic is just as real as mine and comes from the same source. Being able to change form, to fly like a bird for instance, must be exhilarating in a way a wizard can admire but certainly not comprehend. My deputy is an owl and he doesn’t miss much which is a real bonus. But as a generality, I’ve found them unpretentious, down to earth and hard working people. I have not had any real problems between my wizard and animus students either. Firstly, I won’t tolerate bullying of any kind, but secondly a wizard soon learns respect. An animus can’t be snuck up on, or out-run, or outfought unless taken by surprise and then a wizard had better craft a spell very very quickly.’ He noted Lord Aubrey was nodding with a faint smile and remembered Drako mention the squad of animus warriors the lord used to maintain. Lord Aubrey would know and appreciate what he meant, and clearly agreed, regardless of the fact it was not politically correct to admire animus people.

  ‘Having animus at White Haven is the reason the school isn’t being supported by the Guild isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes. The whole Eastern Guild is small, smaller than your Guild, from what I can ascertain. It’s why they aren’t calling the shots about you or have much power to gainsay pressure from the king. They have been ordered to supply nothing and let the school founder. However, I don’t agree. A school is essential for our future generations to prosper and when the people thrive so does the land. I will not allow my lands to become weak and corrupted.’ He paused to assess the young wizard; he had courage without a doubt, but he was young for such a weighty and responsible position. ‘Return to White Haven in the morning with your men and continue as you have been with restoring the school. I would suggest you reconsider leaving in the spring. To my mind you seem ideally suited to White Haven. Perhaps tutors can be found that will remedy your knowledge gaps on an informal basis.’

  ‘You want me to ignore my Guild’s commands?’

  ‘What will happen to the school if you leave? We’ll be back to square one. Worse in fact, because we’ll have built up expectations in parents that White Haven is once again a respectable school with a future. Maybe getting parents on board will in time sway the Guild’s stance; they will all be members with a voice after all. If we don’t continue this stance, animus students will be forced to leave, with nowhere else prepared to teach them or guard them. Their future would be very bleak.’

 
‘I know. I have considered all that,’ Jim said heavily. ‘But there’s a limit to what I’m going to be allowed to do, even with your approval,’ he added with a quick smile. ‘Tobias said my Guild was already working with his to monitor me. If I refuse to go back, I will have to join here and they will probably insist I leave the school. They certainly won’t let me remain independent of their rules indefinitely.’

  ‘True. I know Tobias is deeply concerned that you’re not under his Guild’s control already,’ Aubrey observed. ‘But while they dither, you have space to continue setting things right.’

  ‘Very well, I’ll remain in my unqualified guise and let them come to me. Unless I mess up badly I doubt I’ll hear from anyone before spring anyway.’

  ‘That’ll come round soon enough,’ Lord Aubrey observed. ‘It’s best to have considered your options beforehand though.’

  ‘I will. Thank you for your advice, my lord. It was a pleasure meeting you,’ Jim responded sincerely and soon after was shown into a guest room for the night.

  26

  Homeward Bound

  Before dawn the following morning, the servant assigned to Jim woke him as ordered, and packed while Jim broke his fast on hot crispy bacon and eggs. Out in the courtyard he found his horse had already been saddled in readiness. Jim couldn’t fault Lord Aubrey’s staff’s efficiency. Or were they just keen to see the back of him? Whilst he was buckling his overnight bag to his saddle, Freddie and Rupert appeared with an escort. Their faces lit up when they saw him; it was clear they’d been told nothing.

  ‘Excellent timing! Ready to go home?’ Jim asked cheerfully. The pair looked rather dishevelled and had obviously slept in the same clothes for a week. But otherwise they seemed unharmed. Jim mounted his horse and his men moved to his stirrups on either side to keep pace with his horse. Jim kept Nugget to a steady walk across the yard, aware they were being watched. But the gates opened at their approach and they left the upper keep and the watchers behind. Jim only breathed easily when they left the last city gate behind and were out in open country once more. ‘Did they give you breakfast today?’ Jim asked Freddie, aware the man’s cheeks seemed a little hollow.