01 - The Price of Talent

by Peter Whittlesey

  Meredith, upon hearing this, turned and looked at me one last time. With her back to Claudius she mouthed “you are in danger” to me, then quickly turned and left via the stairs.

  “Now Tyr, if you would be so good as to give your sword to the guards, I would appreciate it,” said Claudius.

  Not knowing what else to do, I complied. The sword surprisingly had nothing to say about this. Probably it was happy to go back to the storeroom for a change of scene. Regardless I figured I could call it to me again if I needed it, so there was no harm giving it away briefly.

  “That’s a good lad,” said Claudius, when I had complied. Then he turned to the guards and said, “You aren’t needed now. Please take that to the storeroom.”

  With some hesitation, but clearly not wanting to disobey orders, the guards took my sword out of the cell and left.

  “Now that we are alone, I would like to congratulate you,” said Claudius. “There are very few people who are able to create fire at will, and even fewer still who can make weapons manifest themselves in a cold room.”

  “Cold room?” I asked. “I assume you aren’t just referring to the temperature…”

  “Yes Tyr, a cold room doesn’t just mean the temperature,” said Claudius. “This room is what we call a ‘cold room’. I will not bore you with the details for now, but it is a sort of cell designed to house people with magical talents that will minimize their ability to cause harm to themselves or others.”

  “And why lock me here?” I asked.

  “Why, I would think that would be obvious,” said Claudius. “To keep you from harming yourself and others.”

  “To keep me from harming people?” I asked genuinely surprised.

  “Tyr, you are almost single handedly responsible for the deaths of around ten Inquisitors,” said Claudius. “You have been, without a doubt, the hardest talented individual to capture that I have ever had to hunt down.”

  “Me? I’m just a farmer,” I said in astonishment. “If your Inquisitors had left me alone, none of this would have happened.”

  “Really? Do you honestly believe that?” said Claudius. “You never had any accidents with your powers? No little slips in concentration? Headaches that only relieve themselves when something gets destroyed?”

  I decided not to respond to this. But I found myself reviewing my life. I could remember quite a few times in recent history where I lost control of my powers. But I had never harmed anyone who hadn’t first threatened me or my family.

  “Deep in thought? Lost in a reverie?” Said Claudius. “You know the truth of my words. Untrained talented individuals are a danger to everyone around them. Power builds up in them and can lead to all sorts of unfortunate things happening. Some are able to unconsciously channel their powers constructively, others never manifest their powers at all. But the ones who do, and can’t control it, are a grave danger indeed.”

  “And you think this justifies forcibly rounding up people?” I asked. “My farm was destroyed when your Inquisitors dropped by. My parents died from that, and it’s your fault!”

  “My fault?” He responded. “You were a danger to yourself and others and what happened there is proof enough. None of the people I sent to arrest you had the power to destroy the farm. Only you did. So if you are looking for someone to blame, blame yourself.”

  “The sad thing is…” He said. “Had you not been living so far away from civilization, we might have found you sooner and avoided all this tragedy. If we had trained you to use your powers as they manifested, this would not have happened.”

  “This would not have happened if you had left me alone!” I responded.

  “Do you really think so?” He asked. “How many people have you killed with your power? You can barely control it and barely comprehend it. You are like a child with a loaded crossbow. Think on this for a while. I will come back to discuss things with you further when you have had some time to… cool off.”

  And with that, he turned around and left. When he had gone up the stairs, a guard came down with some food and water for me. Then he too left. When he was gone, the wooden stairs were pulled back up, and the stone ceiling plate lowered back into place. I looked up the stairway as they were doing it. The second room had three guards in it. Two held crossbows aimed down the stairs, while the third was turning a large hand crank that apparently controlled the ceiling stone.

  Once the ceiling was in place, I was cast back into darkness. It was only me and my food and water. So I settled in and ate. Eating and drinking while nearly blind is difficult. You do a lot of careful feeling around. The food itself was unspectacular. There was some stew in a ceramic bowl and a heel of hard bread. The water was in a bucket and clearly meant to last me for a while. Fortunately, I found a wooden ladle to drink from on the tray with the food. Otherwise I would likely have spilled it all over myself and spent however long it took for Claudius to visit me again without water.

  Once I had eaten my fill, and taken advantage of the central drain to relieve myself, I sat down in the corner furthest from the ceiling entrance to my cell and reviewed my situation. I was locked in a room that severely curtailed what little magical ability I had. There was no door to the cell. It was all stone, no wood anywhere except for the ladle to my water bucket. I could probably light that on fire to see by, but then I would not have a ladle to drink from. The bowl that the stew arrived in was ceramic, so that wouldn’t make a useful torch either. Moreover, while I could touch the ceiling when I stood up and reached, I had no way of moving such a large amount of stone physically. Assuming I could slowly build enough power over time, I could try to move it with magic, but I could barely control that at the best of times. So that made it seem especially dangerous in such a confined space. Also, given the magical damping, it was unlikely I could blow a hole in the ceiling even if I tried. It seemed then, at least for now, that I was truly trapped.

  With nothing else to do, and no one else to talk to, I decided to call my sword to me again. I figured that since I had eaten, my abilities were probably as well fueled as they were going to be. I began by concentrating on it with determination. I fleshed out the sword in my mind, concentrated really hard on it, and then called it to me. Whether it was the food, or the extra time I spent thinking about it, the sword appeared more easily. I again felt the familiar feeling of weakness and light headedness pass over me, and I found I had Goosebumps on my arms and legs. Once these passed, and they seemed to pass more quickly than the last time, I reached down at my feet and picked up my sword.

  Really? Again you pull me out of the storeroom? I had been enjoying the change of scene. After all, what’s there to see in this pitch black hell of a room?

  Good to see you as well. At least this time I called you with a reason. What do you think of my situation here? Do you know any way we can escape?

  Honestly, I think you’re trapped. Did you see how thick that ceiling plate was? How many guards with crossbows they have in the room above you? Short of letting off a giant blast of power down here, I don’t think you’re getting away easily. Worse, in a confined space like this, the kind of blast needed to pop the ceiling tile would likely make you a small red smear on one of the walls.

  Crap. That was my impression too. I was hoping you might have a different perspective.

  I do, my perspective is that you are well and truly trapped. Like a rat, and they didn’t even give you cheese…

  Well, that leads me to my next question, why do you think they brought me here?

  Do you have ears kid?

  Yes, but what does that have to do with anything.

  Did you use them when that old fart Claudius was talking?

  Of course I listened to him. What’s your point?

  My point, you numbskull, is that he pretty much revealed it to you. He basically said that when they found out you had talent, they sent people to arrest you. Then, when you were arguing about whose fault the explosion at your parents’ farm was he said it was unfort
unate that they had not gotten you sooner and trained you as your powers manifest themselves.

  He did say that, didn’t he… Do you think they want to train me to use my powers, like Ross was.

  That is the implication. Or, at least, that was their original intention anyway. Whether it still is remains to be seen.

  What do you mean?

  Well, you have killed like four Inquisitors. They might just put you in front of the Church’s justice, find you guilty of murder and then hang you.

  Why do that? If they wanted me dead, they could have killed me while I was unconscious. I would imagine it takes days of travel to get to Caer Sud from where we were on the road. Claudius kept me unconscious the whole time it took to get me here. No, I think they have a reason to keep me alive.

  You could be right kid. They were quick to show you a familiar face. And I don’t buy for a minute that was ONLY to keep you from reacting violently.

  What do you mean? Do you think Meredith is involved?

  Involved? Yes. How she is involved is not clear to me. Though it seemed like she was very nervous and afraid when she was here. Didn’t she say you were in danger?

  Yes, she said, or at least mouthed out, that I was in danger. Didn’t even whisper it, so no one would be able to hear it.

  That sounds to me like you are here for more than just summary execution. I think Meredith may have been brought to keep you docile, but not in the way Claudius implied.

  He made it sound like he wanted me to see a familiar face so that I would not attack the first person down the stairs.

  That was his implication. But I think it goes deeper than that. Claudius said your friends in the forest escaped when you were captured. I think he showed you Meredith to let you know he has a hostage.

  You don’t think he would hurt her do you?

  He may well, if that is what it took to keep you in line. Think about it. He said you were the most dangerous person he has ever had to track down, and we know that after two failed attempts to catch you with inquisitors, he came along for the third one. Do you think he would have bothered if he didn’t have plans for you?

  But what of Meredith then? Why involve her?

  As we’ve already discussed, as a sort of insurance to keep you in line. While he seemed to be able to deal with you easily enough when you and your friends tried to rob his carriage, I doubt he will always be around to keep your powers in check. So, he wants you to know, right from the beginning, that he has someone he thinks you care about.

  Meredith? She was my nurse when I was unconscious after they tried to capture me at the farm. But her dad tried to turn me in to the Inquisition. Why would he think I cared about her?

  Hah! Because she’s a blond girl, approximately your age who cared for you in your time of need. Even if you don’t have the hots for her, you still owe her for caring for you when the hospital wanted to get rid of you.

  That is true. I guess I do owe her.

  You guess? Do you think the Mayor of Forsburg usually takes in invalids? You may have been in need, but I have no doubt that it was Meredith who asked her dad to take you in and care for you after your home was destroyed.

  I paused for a minute and reflected on this. The sword was right, I did seem to owe Meredith for taking me in after the accident at my parents’ farm. Also, I didn’t doubt he was also right about Claudius’s intentions to use her as a pseudo hostage. After all, he sent a bunch of ruthless thugs after me more than once. They may have had orders to capture me, but they had no problems getting rough with my friends and family. Following that, it would make sense for him to send Meredith down the stairs first as a human shield and a warning to me to let me know more was at stake than my own wellbeing.

  One thing occurs to me. When Meredith left, Claudius told her to go care for her other patients. This sounds like she has been here working as a nurse for some time.

  Interesting thought. Ross said he was taught his healing skills here after the church had determined he had magical healing skills. You don’t suppose Meredith is talented as well?

  Well, I don’t know what happened after I was captured initially. It could well be that the church sent more Inquisitors to her house to interrogate her father and her. If she is talented as well, they would likely have found that out then…

  Then she may well have been here in Caer Sud the whole time you were playing bandit. That would explain why they trust her with patients other than you. If she was here just as a warning to you, I doubt they would let her interact with others all that much.

  Next time Claudius or Meredith come down here, I think we are going to need to get more information out of them.

  I think that makes sense. Also, if they intend to use Meredith as a hostage, any escape attempt on your part could end badly for her. You are going to have to be very careful here.

  Yeah, I think you’re right. So our first order of business is to find out more about why I am here, why Meredith is here and what the nature of our situations are.

  Yup. And if you can manage all that, we can better plan our escape in the future.

  Yup. In the meantime, feel like running through some sword practice with me? It feels like it’s been ages since I last practiced.

  You wouldn’t rather use the wooden spoon or the ceramic bowl?

  You still jealous about the practice swords and the bow?

  You still a moron?

  Chapter 16.

  “Did you have enough time to think about what I said yesterday?” Said Claudius.

  It was, near as I could tell, a day after our previous conversation. I had practiced my swordsmanship until my arms shook and then took a long nap. Once I woke up, I’m not entirely sure how much time I spent either sitting or pacing around the cell, but I had spent a great deal of it thinking about my situation. Still, I wasn’t in a mood to indulge him, after all I was still obviously a captive.

  “I have nothing but time to think, after all, this isn’t that big a cell,” I said.

  “Still feeling surly?” He responded with a smile. “Not surprising considering your circumstances. Still, you’re avoiding the question. Do you know why you’re here?”

  “You said yesterday that it was because you thought I was a danger,” I replied.

  “Yes, and no,” he said. “You are here because you ARE a danger. You killed quite a few of my Inquisitors who were going about their duties as officers of the church.”

  “I don’t recall anyone dying before they got involved,” I replied.

  “That is beside the point,” he said. “It is our duty, as servants of god and god’s law, to remove dangerous elements from society for the common good. History proves the dangers of mages who are allowed to run free.”

  “What does a 500 year old war have to do with my incarceration?” I asked.

  “Oh, so you do have some rudimentary schooling in history then,” he said. “Unfortunately, it seems to not have made all that strong an impression on you.”

  “500 years ago, the mages ruled Pandanu,” I said in an attempt not to sound too ignorant. “A famine came, the people refused to hand over their food, and war happened.”

  “Close enough,” said Claudius. “But what I mean is the lessons OF history, not the history itself.”

  “What are you getting at?” I asked, tiring of the word play.

  “That mages proved their unworthiness to rule, their danger to the common man, and the need for them to be subjugated by the church,” he said. “That is why we round them up, and bring them into church.”

  “If we are so dangerous, why bring us all to one place?” I asked, genuinely curious and spotting my opportunity to get some useful information out of him.

  “Because your magical gifts are gifts from god,” he said. “God gave you your powers with a purpose. We here in the church, as interpreters of God’s will and instruments of his emissary the high priest, would put those skills to use for the betterment of society, as God intended.”

&n
bsp; “Put my powers to use?” I asked. “How do you do that from inside this ‘Cold Room’, or whatever you call it?”

  “Don’t get too far ahead of yourself, Tyr,” he said. “Until we know we can trust you, you don’t get to leave this room. It’s for everyone’s safety, as I’ve mentioned before.”

  “And how does this room keep people safe, aside from keeping me isolated?” I asked, again trying to get more information.

  “I suppose there is no harm in telling you, though your ignorance of the nature of magical powers is surprising given your obvious talents,” he said. “The secret with magic is that it is actually just energy. When you cast a ‘spell,’ as the layperson thinks about it, what you are actually doing is channeling energy around you, and within you, and putting it to a different use. This is why you felt so weak and your hands and feet were so cold, almost hypothermic as Meredith pointed out, when you summoned your sword. Your mind and body used the most readily available source of energy it had, which in a cold room is just your body heat.”