Izana sat at the window, glancing at his watch. As per usual, the court magician was late. Just as he was about to go find him, the magician burst into the room, bowing and apologizing excessively before the first prince finally got him to sit down in the chair facing the desk.
"Your highness, may I ask why you have called upon me?" asked the magician after some silence from the prince.
"The Chief herbalist tells me that your health has been declining over the past year, especially with the added stress of Zen and I always leaving the palace . I suggest for you to have two apprentices to help ease your health and take over for you once you retire." The prince answered the magician, whose widened eyes showed surprise, then excitement, and finally gratitude as he heard the prince's words.
The magician opened his mouth to start thanking the prince, but Izana interrupted him.
"You will be choosing the apprentices, but if they are not suited to my or Zen's needs, or deemed unfit by either of us, they will not continue to serve in the palace. The exam will begin two weeks from now. I suggest you deliver the news as soon as possible, and make preparations immediately."
"Yes sir! Thank you your highness! I'll get to it right away!" the ecstatic man replied. He left the room and headed back to his own office.
Izana smiled out of amusement for the aged man. "No task ever daunts you, does it?"
The magician's office was untidy and covered with paper, books, and vials of potions. Through the curtained windows shown a golden light, illuminating the otherwise dim room. Bookshelves lined the walls of the small sized room and a desk stood in the center of it. The floor had suspicious discoloration and burn marks, most caused by the clumsy man.
"Where is it… where did i put it…" He muttered under his breath. "AHA! Here… let's see… letters letters…" He said, pulling out a book from a shelf and scanning the pages to find the spell he was looking for. He finally found the page and written at the top in neat handwriting was Seeking Letters. Just below it was a description of the effects of the spell.
Seeking letters are used to deliver messages to people without the use of messengers, making the process faster and easier.
This spell can be used for communication with a specific individual, or can be mass produced and sent out to anyone within a certain criteria.
"Let's see… I'll need oak paper… blue ink… mint leaves… " The man kept muttering the list of ingredients, holding the book open in one hand and searching for them with the other, digging through piles of papers and books.
Having found the ingredients, he motioned at the table with his pinky and everything on it swept off onto the floor. He set the items on the table and sat down in the chair, pondering the message. A few minutes later, the magician leaned forward and began to scribble a barely legible statement. He copied the exact notice unto hundreds of other papers, carefully folding and placing the letters in envelopes, a stack forming to the side.
Grabbing a pot from underneath the table, he mixed in some herbs, spices, and liquids, all the while infusing the solution with magic. The magician stirred the brew, using a spoon that he had been using for his breakfast earlier that day, which he hadn't bothered to clean up.
"DONE!" he exclaimed joyfully as the color turned black instead of orange and a ring of smoke popped out of the pot. He wrote in the tiniest of letters the criteria on the back of each envelope with the potion he had just made.
1. Must be a magic user.
2. Must be over the age of 16.
3. One letter sent per household.
Satisfied, he took the stacks of envelopes to the window behind him and tossed them off the tower. As soon as the envelopes grazed the breeze, they floated their separate ways, off on their missions.