by Guy Antibes
Ricky guessed the Professor with thinning brown hair was younger than Saganet, but still in his forties. He spoke with a hint of a Hessilian accent. Hessilia was a federation of city-states to the north of Paranty.
“Your friend, Franken, has taken a two-week break from his studies. I hope that doesn’t mean you will stop studying,” Krispor said.
“Not at all. He helps me with vocabulary.”
Krispor tossed a dictionary to Ricky, who scrambled to catch it. “I collect dictionaries. This is a duplicate. It’s a Historical Dictionary. It’s written from the Hesilian perspective but in Parantian. Frank can be replaced if all you are looking for are the terms we use.”
Ricky looked at the old book.
Krispor followed Ricky’s eyes. “It doesn’t replace the text. You will be assessed based on the provided text, but Professor Crabacci can help you bridge the gaps.”
“Thank you, Professor Denata.”
The man nodded, but then he narrowed his eyes. “I wouldn’t trust that Pestella boy. I only say that because I had a conversation with your guardian. I knew more about him than Saganet did.”
Ricky tried to give Krispor a smile but failed. He did give the history professor a little bow and left the class for arithmetic.
Picking up how to use numbers interested Ricky. He could see that putting numbers to work was useful in all kinds of applications, even in sorcery. Once the class finished, he ran into Loria Mansali.
“What is that old book?” she said. They both stood in the chill autumn wind in the middle of a quadrangle.
“History from the Hessilian perspective. It’s a dictionary, not a textbook.”
“Just terms?”
“I haven’t looked at it,” Ricky said.
Loria’s face put on a conspiratorial look. “Why don’t you skip geology and let’s look at it together.”
“The commissary isn’t open yet,” Ricky said.
“But your cottage is.”
Ricky raised his eyebrows. Was that even appropriate, he thought? He didn’t know. “Let’s go. I’ve never skipped a class before.”
“Don’t worry. I do all the time.” She grinned as she took his arm and dragged him towards the cottage he shared with Saganet.
Loria looked around at the new furniture. “This is presentable enough. It’s much better than a dorm room.”
Having Loria in his home space made Ricky feel awkward. She was a girl, and that made it even worse. What if Saganet came in?
As if on cue, his guardian came out of his bedroom. “What’s this?” he asked.
Ricky felt his face flush, but Loria didn’t look bothered at all.
“Professor Denata gave me a historical dictionary to help me now that Frank is gone for a few weeks. Loria wanted to examine it with me.”
Saganet looked at Loria from the corner of his eyes. “You are interested in an old book?”
Loria blushed at Saganet’s question. “I am,” she said. “I convinced Ricky to let me see it, but the commissary is closed right now.”
“Indeed it is. Sit down. Let’s look at the book together,” Saganet said. “Krispor mentioned he might have something that could help you with history if Frank didn’t return.”
Ricky felt better having Saganet in the room. He still felt awkward, but he no longer wondered if he was doing something wrong in having Loria in the cottage alone. She seemed to like him, and that just made the invitation worse, because he thought he might like her. She was the only girl who even showed a bit of interest in him. He even thought she was pretty.
Loria opened the book. Saganet sat beside her, and Ricky faced the girl. She seemed to know what she sought because Loria nodded, almost imperceptibly, when she reached a certain page.
“Ducal Succession,” she said, “Contrary to popular Parantian opinion, Ducal appointments to lead cities are a responsibility of the Council of Notables, not the King. Although preference is often made to worthy natural heirs, the Council does not have to approve an unsuitable heir to the position of Ducal authority over a city. Anyone can be appointed, even a non-noble. The retiring Duke does not lose his title, but retreats to his ducal estate.” She looked at Ricky and then at Saganet.
“This is something new?” Saganet said.
Ricky couldn’t quite read the expression on his guardian’s face. Was he playing with her?
Loria grabbed Ricky’s history textbook and ruffled the pages until she found what she sought. “It says in the text that the King appoints nobles to serve Paranty, and the Council of Notables executes the laws. The words in this old book says otherwise. Which is right?”
Saganet put his fist to his cheek when he put an elbow on the table and turned his head to look at Loria. “Which do you want to believe?”
She looked confused and didn’t immediately answer Saganet’s question. “That explains some things best left unsaid.”
“Family things?” Saganet asked.
She nodded, still piercing Saganet with her gaze. “Which do you believe?”
“I believe the Hessilians to be more objective,” he said.
Even though Ricky was almost lost in the discussion, he knew enough to recognize what Saganet said. The textbook was written with bias, political bias. If he hadn’t been attacked on the streets of Tossa with Saganet, he wouldn’t even care, but his life might still be at risk for some cause he didn’t even know existed. He didn’t like the thought of being left out.
Something important had happened at Saganet’s kitchen table, and Ricky needed to know what Loria thought and what Saganet was involved in.
“Who would benefit if the Hessilian version is correct?” Ricky asked. If the King had control of the Council of Notables, what difference did it make? “Why would there be two interpretations? Isn’t the law the law?”
Ricky looked at Saganet and at Loria.
“There was a fire eighty years ago in Sealio. The Council building burned down with most of the Notables inside, and most of the laws and records of Tossa were lost,” Loria said. She flipped to the front of the History Dictionary. “This is over one-hundred years old. It predates the fire.”
Ricky didn’t understand how the interpretation would change.
“I can see you’re a bit confused,” Saganet said. “The current political system nearly died that day, but the people wouldn’t stand for the King to rule them again, so he got his scholars together and reconstructed the laws.”
“And conveniently changed the ones he didn’t like?” Ricky said.
Saganet nodded. “Some of the changes were caught, but I don’t think this one was.” He went to his bookcase and pulled out his latest edition of the Codes of Paranty and read the provision that declared the King appointed the Dukes and that the city positions were hereditary.
Loria’s eyes brightened. “Is there a library outside of Paranty that might hold an old Code?”
The thought evidently hadn’t occurred to Saganet. “You have a good point. Perhaps that was what Krispor was trying to tell me by giving Ricky this book. Whenever we talk politics, he always adheres to the present laws. He could be in trouble if he did anything else.”
Ricky nodded. “I’ve got my homework assignment,” he said. “I’ll compare the Historical Dictionary to the Codes of Paranty.”
“I’ll help,” Loria said.
Ricky frowned. He didn’t want the girl to get into trouble. “I’d be happy to share what I find, but I think it’s safer to do such a thing here in the cottage.”
“I’m not a very competent chaperone,” Saganet said, supporting Ricky’s rejection.
Loria pursed her lips. “I’ll hold you to that, Hendrico Valian.”
“Please do,” Ricky said.
“It’s lunchtime. Want to stay, Loria?” Saganet said.
She rose from her chair. “Perhaps another time. Maybe we can share whatever Ricky finds over a meal. Is that okay?” she said.
“It’s a date,” Saganet said.
R
icky cringed at the word, and that brought a smile to Loria’s lips.
“It is,” she said as she rose from her chair and left Saganet and Ricky looking at each other.
Saganet’s eyes followed her out the door. “What is going on between Mistress Mansali and you?”
“Nothing intentional,” Ricky said.
Saganet chuckled. “As long as it’s nothing intentional then I shouldn’t be worried. Right?”
“I’m only fourteen,” Ricky said. “Although she is an attractive person—”
“Who is interested in you, if I am reading you two correctly.”
“Maybe,” Ricky said. “Gobble kept me away from the girls in Shantyboat Town.”
“Your grandfather didn’t do much for you, but I’d say that was one good thing. Girls probably grow up early where you are from.”
Ricky agreed, but he stayed silent about that aspect of his life. He had fended off girls before, but here in the academy, everything seemed different. Even Loria didn’t behave the same as members of the opposite sex acted in Shantyboat Town.
“What makes her different at the academy?”
“Her family isn’t quite respectable.”
“I only know that much,” Ricky said.
“They operate what some people think is an unsavory business. Her father is a speculator.”
“What is that?”
“He will buy the contents of merchant ships that are late to port for a substantial discount, and if the ship arrives, he makes a lot of money.”
Ricky thought that was like gambling. “And if the ship doesn’t come in?”
“Total loss, but he makes much more than he loses. There is a suspicion that Baron Mansali somehow controls when ships arrive.”
“You can do that? What does he do, hold captains hostage or something?”
Saganet shook his head. “No one has ever found out. There is a suspicion sorcery is involved since his three sons are accomplished sorcerers, just like the father, but the ships that arrive late have never made any accusations against him. Baron Mansali makes a lot of money. He has some other businesses in Paranty that smooth over the ups and downs of his speculating.”
“But others can do the same thing, can’t they?” Ricky said. “What if they found a way to communicate over long distances?”
Saganet nodded. “That would make sense, and such a thing is thought to be impossible, but that might explain why no one else has anywhere near the success that the Baron has. An interesting thing is the King has never investigated Mansali, nor has the Council of Notables.”
“So, if the Council of Notables—”
“Of which Baron Mansali is a member,” Saganet said.
“He could stop any investigations if they ever found anything, couldn’t he? Is that why no one likes Loria? Is he that influential?”
“With the King controlling the Council,” Saganet said, “are the Baron’s activities going to remain untouched? I’d like to know that, but such a move will be slow in coming. It might indicate what side of the fence Baron Mansali is on.”
“The King will want control like anyone else. Would the King be jealous of Baron Mansali’s wealth?” Ricky asked.
“The Baron didn’t come from a wealthy family. He had to start with nothing more than his own education to become the wealthy man he is today. Nobles are always suspicious of self-made men, nearly as much as they are of superb sorcerers, and Mansali is both.”
“So Loria is looked down on because of her father’s business. People think it’s shady or unethical, but no one can prove it.” Ricky nodded. Poor girl, he thought.
“Good boy,” Saganet said. He sounded impressed by Ricky’s analysis.
“There are other vested interests involved on various sides,” Saganet said.
“Lord Taranta?”
Saganet nodded. “With the King controlling the Council, there are those who see that as a benefit and those who see it as a curse to themselves and to the nation. You can imagine where Taranta’s position is on that subject.”
“Sorcerers would like to defend themselves, so they aren’t with the King?” Ricky asked.
“Many might feel that way, although no one goes around asking sorcerers that question. The army and police would like to use sorcerers on a more regular basis to be more efficient. We are at peace right now, but the Compact has always put Paranty at a disadvantage when waging war with states that have no problem integrating sorcerers into their army.”
“You and the Order of the Curled Fist?”
Saganet folded his arms and sat back in his chair. “You know better than to ask me that.”
“Fine. That means the political situation in Paranty is complicated and there are a lot of interests pulling the fabric of the country this way and that.”
“Good analogy,” Saganet said as he rose from his chair. “I’m hungry and need to get something in this ancient stomach of mine to get me through the rest of the day.”
Ricky found he had two pangs of hunger. His stomach grumbled when Saganet mentioned getting something to eat, but he also hungered after more information about the Order of the Curled Fist.
Saganet changed Ricky’s train of thought. “Why don’t we go to the commissary?” Saganet asked. “I’m sure you are too wound up to have the patience to cook something.”
~
Loria leaned over and poked Ricky in the ribs during study time in Professor Calasay’s early morning advanced sorcery class. “Did your Professor Crabacci tell you anything else?” she whispered in his ear.
Ricky noticed Victor Taranta raise his head at the sound of her comment, but he was sure Victor couldn’t hear.
“He only got me more confused. There are too many interests in Paranty.”
“Too many in any country,” Loria said. “My father says it’s the same way everywhere, but the King makes it worse for sorcerers here than most. He and the whole line of Parantian Kings have believed the same.” She straightened up as Professor Calasay walked back into the room.
The professor tapped her wand on the lectern. All the students sat on the front row. “I hope you read enough to use your wands.”
Ricky had achieved a level of comfort using the long stick and sat back and partially listened to her lecture. He would ask Professor Calasay about sorcerous communications after class, without Loria around.
After class, Ricky caught up with Professor Calasay in the hallway that connected the lecture wells of all the main floor halls in the building.
“You are not supposed to be down here,” she said.
“I have a simple question to ask, but I’m not sure if you will be able to answer it,” Ricky said. “How do sorcerers communicate over long distances?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Did Saganet put you up to this?”
“No. We discussed Loria and her family’s situation yesterday.”
“Loria didn’t talk to you about it, did she?”
“Saganet.”
“Sorcerous communication is rumored to be a closely-held secret among the Mansali family in Paranty.”
“But not in other countries?” Ricky proposed.
“No one I know has ever succeeded in establishing such a thing. You are too young to attempt it. It is very taxing on mature sorcerers and would be dangerous for you to try.”
“I imagine it would take a lot of power.”
“You are going to be late for your next class.”
“Do the other Sorcery professors know how it’s done?”
Professor Calasay pressed her lips together. “You can research other attempts when you reach the Royal University of Sealio, but I don’t suggest you mention it to Loria Mansali. Her father is a mighty merchant and will certainly want to protect his family’s secrets.”
“Parantian secrets?” Ricky said. However, he knew he had gone a step too far with Professor Calasay. “Thank you. At least some of my thoughts were confirmed. I’ll have to be patient.”
“You need to b
e patient about a lot of things, Hendrico. I must leave you,” Professor Calasay said as she entered a classroom.
Ricky put his ear to another door and found an empty lecture hall. He scampered up the stairs and hurried to another building, sliding into his seat in History class just before Professor Denata arrived. He pulled out the History Dictionary and wasn’t too surprised to not find any mention of sorcerous communications.
~~~
Chapter Fourteen
~
T wo weeks later, Ricky shuffled through the first snow of winter as he raced towards history from his sorcery class. He had learned how to make glowing bubbles since he confronted Professor Calasay about sorcerous communications. Ricky didn’t have as much trouble learning the effect as the other students. Victor had surprised Ricky by learning better than Loria, but Ricky felt no one else could compete with him, even Victor.
Now if he could only learn how to control the weather. His lips shivered as the early morning cold penetrated his robes. He sat in his regular seat and noticed a familiar face two rows down.
Franken Pestella had returned to the academy. Frank didn’t look back but leaned forward with hands cradling his chin. The pose suggested anticipation, but the set of his shoulders seemed to indicate reticence, or so Ricky imagined.
Ricky pulled out the History Dictionary, which had been very useful in filling in the intellectual gap left by his erstwhile friend. He still struggled in geology. Saganet’s dictionary only covered a few of the terms, and the textbook assumed the students would know more than Ricky did.
“Frank,” Ricky hissed.
The boy turned and looked up at Ricky. His eyes widened.
“Let’s talk at lunch.” Ricky nodded his head encouragingly.
Frank quickly turned his head to avoid Ricky, but Ricky would ask again after class.
Professor Denata introduced the next two months of study, Parantian economics. He always claimed that to understand the current state of the country, one had to know the economic history.
Ricky stood at the end of the lecture. His notes were a mess, littered with unfamiliar terms. He doubted if they all were in the dictionary. Frank tried to hurry past him, but Ricky stopped him by holding onto the smaller boy’s arm.
